Road Trip, YYH Style!
by Solaris Moon
Summary: Rated for language, which, knowing how this will turn out, will probably get worse as I go on. Solaris, Foxglove, Kurama and Hiei are all bored, so when Foxglove suggests road trip, all but Hiei jump at the chance.
1. Beginning of the end

Road Trip (YYH Style!)  
  
Hey, I'm back after a bit of a vacation, but I think you'll be happy to know that I've been working on quite a few stories, including a couple of one-shot fictions that kind of tie in with this. And, by the way, I will have episode 3 of the Tokyo Show on the air ASAP. Now, on with the fic!   
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"Guys, I'm bored..." Foxglove whined. Solaris, Hiei, and Kurama all sighed. This wasn't the first time they had heard this and they were sure it wouldn't be the last either. Suddenly, Solaris jumped to her feet.  
  
"Everyone, pack your bags! I just got an idea! I think it's time for a road trip!" she smiled.  
  
"What the hell is a road trip?" Hiei asked, puzzled. He didn't like to leave the house that he, Solaris, and Foxglove shared. Kurama ran out the door to go to his home, obviously he knew what a road trip was.  
  
"Hiei, you need to get out more often. We're just going to go where we feel like going, and use Solaris's car to go there. Now get packed!" Foxglove smiled. She was excited about this.  
  
An hour later, Hiei watched Kurama stuff suitcases into the trunk of the '92 Toyota Corolla that Solaris owned. (A/n: And I actually do own a car like that!) So far, all he had learned was that road trips involved little thought and a lot of packing. If this was all there was to it, he wasn't sure he was going to like it that much. He liked it even less when he heard Foxglove's shouts and saw Solaris pull her muse out of the house by her foxtail. Solaris, by way of getting ready, had taken a human form. The only difference between her human form and her Yoh-Ko form were that she had human ears with a silver hoop in her left ear and a silver hoop and a small blue topaz in her right and she was missing her tail. Foxglove couldn't do this, however.  
  
"Let me go, I'm not done packing yet!" Foxglove yelled.  
  
"Oh, yes you are, the trunk is almost full as it is." Solaris said as she locked the door. "And before you ask, Hiei, I can call a repair man to fix anything you may do to my car, and you will pay for it and we will still go on this road trip."  
  
"Darn." he muttered and headed to the front of the car.  
  
"Hey! I call shotgun!" Foxglove yelled. Solaris sighed, something that sounded suspiciously like 'not even out of the driveway and already we have problems...' while Hiei tried to pry her fingers from the door handle. He knew that Solaris was just barely able to drive and he thought that even he could do a better job. Foxglove attempted to fight him, but in the end his speed won out and she was forced to give up. Smiling smugly, he turned to claim his prize, but saw Kurama in the seat Foxglove had called 'shotgun'. (He still didn't understand what one of Yusuke's attacks had to do with a car, but oh well.)  
  
"Sorry, but first come first serve." Kurama said. Hiei rolled his eyes and sat in the back seat, trying to stay as far away from the ticked off muse as possible.  
  
As far as trips went, this one was really uneventful, until Solaris started to blast 'Fukai Mori' over her stereo with the windows rolled down. She had always vowed that if she went on any long-term trip that involved driving, she would do this. Hiei sighed in unison with Foxglove and Kurama and intoned, "This is going to be one long trip..."  
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I will take applications to be in upcoming chapters of this story. Just e- mail me at with your character name, age, gender, hair and eye color and appearance and I'll see what I can do. 


	2. Country music,Run from da fuzz!

YYH Road trip: Part 2

No own YYH. Now read!

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"SOLARIS! TURN THIS DARN THING DOWN! I'M GOING DEAF!" Hiei shouted from the backseat.  
  
"REALLY! BETWEEN THE WINDOWS AND THE STEREO, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO IGNORE!" Foxglove yelled. Solaris sighed and turned the stereo down to a tolerable level.  
  
"You two take all the fun out of road trips. And here's our first stop!" she moped.  
  
"An RV rental center? Okay, whose idea was that?" Hiei said. He actually knew what a RV rental center was, and he didn't want to be on the road for that long. It had only been an hour and he was already missing the two story plus attic/studio home that Solaris owned.  
  
"Mine, actually. Solaris doesn't know how long we'll be on the road, so I suggested we get a small camper and have them attach it under her car." Kurama said. Hiei and Foxglove looked at her incredulously.  
  
"Hey, Toyotas are tough little cars. Mom ran over a heavy plastic thermos once and all we felt was a bump." she shrugged as she got out the money to pay. In the time it had taken them to discuss all this, the camper had been hooked up and all the luggage moved. "I'm tired of driving. Anyone want to?" she asked, holding up the keys. Foxglove snatched them happily and so quickly that it took Solaris several minutes to realize what had happened.  
  
"I'll sit with her. I really don't trust her driving." Hiei said.  
  
"Oh, c'mon, I'm not that bad!" Foxglove protested.  
  
"'Not that bad'? I prefer Solaris's driving to yours!" he scoffed.  
  
"Thanks, Hiei. My self-esteem has just been dropped several miles." Solaris said as she headed to the door of the RV. Unfortunately, Foxglove had already started to pull away, so Solaris had to run for the door. Kurama, who had wasted no time in getting inside, grabbed Solaris's hand and hauled her into the RV. She shut the door hurriedly. Panting as she leaned up against the wall, she stated, "I gotta let up on those cream cheese wantons."  
  
"Hey, you hear that thud shudder sound?" Kurama asked. Solaris nodded, then listened. She could finally make out the words.  
  
"Hey! It's the Signal remix for "Fukai Mori"! That little hypocrite! Tells me to turn down the music, then blasts it while she drives! Oh, I am so going to make her regret it!" Solaris fumed.  
  
"Hiei will turn it down in a minute. See?" Kurama said as silence ensued. "No problems." Just as he said that, "Real Emotion" began to blast. "Okay, maybe a little bit of a problem."  
  
"She's gonna get it..." Solaris said angrily. She then proceeded to dial Foxglove's cell phone from hers. Apparently Foxglove answered because Solaris yelled at her. "TURN THAT RACKET DOWN NOW, FOXGLOVE!" Silence ensued shortly after. "Ah... The sweet, sweet sound of silence..." Solaris sighed just before music began blasting again, this time hard rock. Solaris dialed Foxglove's cell phone again, grimacing.  
  
Meanwhile, in the car, Foxglove and Hiei laughed. Hiei had decided on the rock music station as perfect revenge for her blasting Do As Infinity. Suddenly, Foxglove's 'Kuchibue Ga Kikoeru (I hear a whistle)' ring tone sounded. "Why is your ring tone my song?" Hiei asked.  
  
"Hiei, you asked this already, not telling you again." Foxglove sighed as she answered. "Moshi Moshi?"  
  
"FOXGLOVE, TURN THAT DAMNED RACKET DOWN!" Solaris shouted. Kurama could be heard trying to comfort her.  
  
"Solaris, no need to curse, its just music. Unbearably loud music, but only music, so calm down."  
  
"All right, all right! I'll turn it down. Party pooper..." Foxglove mumbled as she did and hung up.  
  
Back in the camper, Solaris heaved another sigh of relief. As she flopped on one of the fold-down beds (A/N: Never needed a camper, never seen the interior of a camper, never gone camping, so just think of this trip as my fantasy road trip/camping experience. It's a tricked out camper, okay, so get over it), she smiled. "No more blasting music. Just peace, quiet, and my three great friends on a road trip. What a heaven..."  
  
"True, but I have a feeling your 'heaven' is about to be disrupted." Kurama said nervously. He had heard the strains of the one type of music Solaris couldn't stand approaching. What was this music, you wonder? Country. As soon as the strains of the annoying music hit her ears, she tossed a pillow over her ears. It didn't help. As she tossed the pillow back to the bed, she pulled out her cell phone and hit Foxglove's number on speed dial. "FOXGLOVE, YOU KNOW FULL WELL I CAN'T STAND COUNTRY! TURN IT OFF!"  
  
"Hey, it isn't me this time! Not even I would use country to annoy you, and Hiei would tear out the radio." Foxglove said. "It's that car behind us!"  
  
Solaris hung up and opened a window. "HEY, SHUT THAT RACKET UP!" she shouted as she tossed a jar out of the window.  
  
Meanwhile, in the car, the two children in the back of the car scowled at their parent's music selection. Suddenly the car swerved and stopped. A smear of red covered the windshield, with just enough window clear to see the Toyota-pulled camper stop. A tall auburn haired girl and another person with long red hair (the children weren't able to discern whether the red head was a male or female) climbed out of the camper. An average red haired girl with fox ears and a tail step from the car followed a spiky haired guy in a black cloak who carried a sword. As they approached the car, the auburn haired girl put her hands to her face in shock.  
  
"Oh, no! I didn't mean to throw the strawberry jelly! Why couldn't it have been the blueberry jelly?" she cried. The young boy looked to his twin sister, and nodded as she gave the universal sign for 'she's a nutcase.' The red headed girl came over to the passenger side and leaned over to look inside. The young boy looked at her, smiling. She looked back and waved, smiling to him.  
  
"Hi, there!" the fox girl smiled as she stood upright. "It's a tape, Hiei- Sama!" The spiky haired boy walked over to the driver's side, hit the eject button on the tape player (A/N: Old model of car, heck, mine still has the tape player. Doesn't work, but it's still there), and pulled out his sword as he tossed the tape into the air. The two children clapped in joy as the mysterious guy (Hiei-Sama, the fox girl had called him) sliced the tape in half. They had snuck out the previous night and removed the rest of their parent's country music tapes. The other red head, who was certainly a guy, walked over to their father.  
  
"I'm sorry, sir. It was my friend's idea to toss the jelly out the window, and the other two kind of took it from there." he apologized, pointing over his shoulder to the mourning auburn and the foxgirl comforting her. He headed back to the camper, and the small boy yelled out the window.  
  
"Hey, miss! Are those ears real?"  
  
"Yeah! My friend can do the same thing. Solaris?" the foxgirl motioned. The auburn quit mourning long enough to let some kind of dark light surround her body. When the light dimmed, you could see ears and a tail on her too. She walked over to the car and leaned over the back window. The two children reached out and touched her ears (like in Inuyasha.) The mother blinked and spoke up.  
  
"Hey, I want to touch them too!" she said. Solaris went over and obliged, then went back to the camper. The children blinked as the camper took off, their father cleaning the strawberry jelly off of the windshield.  
  
Back in the camper, Solaris kicked back on one of the foldaway beds, sighing contentedly. The total absence of the sounds of country music soothed her, until the sirens began. Solaris dialed Foxglove's cell phone and told her to pull over. Suddenly Hiei's voice could be heard over the phone.  
  
"I'M STEERING THIS THING, YOUR MUSE IS TOO BUSY FLOORING IT, TOSSING THINGS OUT THE WINDOW, AND YELLING OBSCENITIES! LET'S JUST SAY I'M TRYING!" he shouted. Solaris could suddenly hear one of the cops yell something rude about her muse. Solaris responded by dropping her human disguise, popping open a window, and flipping off the cop. Kurama sighed, sat down, and decided to wait for the inevitable arrest.  
  
Five minutes and a little over 5 and ½ miles later, Solaris sighed as she pulled at the tip of one of her fox ears. "Hands on the camper, weirdo!" one of the cops yelled. Solaris slammed a hand on to the side of the camper, flipping off the cop as she did. Suddenly, Foxglove let out a loud 'OW!' Solaris, ignoring the cop's instructions, turned to see one of the officers pulling on her poor, demonic muse's ears, yelling obscenities as he tried to pull off 'that stupid fox ear headband'.  
  
"HEY! Let go of my muse NOW!" Solaris yelled as she rushed to her friend's aid. Another officer yanked on her tail, trying to pull away the costume. He ended up sporting a lovely bite mark on his hand. Solaris ran to the car, Hiei and Foxglove sliding into the back of the car. "I'm drivin'!" she yelled. Kurama quickly decided that he didn't want to go to jail, and jumped into the front of the car. As Solaris sped off, Hiei sighed and stared out the window. He hadn't wanted to go on this trip in the first place, and now with this new development, they'd have to travel until the heat died down.

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Still taking applications, and Tokyo Show will be on the air as soon as I finish it. Ja Ne!


	3. Midnight snack,Ja ne, innocent Solaris!

YYH Road Trip  
  
Solaris: No own YYH. Read on, peeps!  
  
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It was a little past midnight of the first day (A/N: Yes, it took three chapters to get through one day of this thing, but it's not a set rate.) and our heroes were in an RV camp that Foxglove had steered them into. She had taken over driving when Solaris almost swerved off the road. Hiei had claimed the backseat of the car, Foxglove had just reclined the passenger seat and fallen asleep there, and Kurama and Solaris slept in the two beds of the camper. Solaris was in a deep sleep, so when the camper door opened, it hardly registered with her. About 12:25, she heard a noise and sat up, thinking that it was Kurama getting a midnight snack. The light in the mini fridge threw the figure in front of it into shadow, so all Solaris could see was fox ears and all she could do was assume the worst.  
  
"OH MY GOD, WE'RE BEING ATTACKED BY GIANT KIRBYS AND ONE OF THEM ATE FOXGLOVE!" she screamed in hysterics. Kurama sat up, half asleep and rubbing his ears. When Solaris wanted to, she could really scream, and she had wanted to. Since Kurama was only 4 or 5 feet away from her in the other bed of the camper, he had gotten it full blast.  
  
"What is it, Sol-Sol-Solaris?" Kurama asked, yawning as he said her name.  
  
"A giant Kirby has invaded the camper and eaten my poor muse!" Solaris sobbed. Kurama came over to comfort her just as the blob turned around.  
  
"Uh, I'm just getting a midnight snack." Foxglove said, holding a half- eaten sandwich in one hand and a soda in the other. Solaris still didn't stop sobbing, so Kurama tapped her on the head hard enough to snap her out of it. "As I was saying, I'm getting a midnight snack. And we're almost out of food."  
  
"How many of those have you eaten? I thought Solaris packed over 50 of those." Kurama said. Hiei wandered in about that time. Solaris's shout of something about a giant furby had woken him up from a dream about decapitating the teletubbies and that clown and doll from that show about the couch.  
  
"About, oh, 20, I think." Foxglove said as she drank more of the soda. Solaris got that dangerous look in her eye as Foxglove polished off the rest of her sandwich and soda.  
  
"20! YOU ATE 20 FREAKING SANDWICHES! A BIT EXCESSIVE DON'T YOU THINK?" Solaris shouted. Kurama, once again, got it full blast. Foxglove shrugged, threw away the soda can and stretched. Hiei just grabbed her ear and pulled her away, mumbling something like 'get back to the car and go to sleep, I want to see if I succeeded in decapitating that damn doll...' Solaris, however, didn't cease her shouting.  
  
"THAT'S RIGHT, RUN LIKE THE COWARD YOU ARE, FOXGLOVE! I WILL GET YOU BACK FOR EATING ALMOST ALL OF OUR SANDWICHES!" she shouted, then looked to the open fridge. "WE HAVE NO MORE FOOD, YOU EVIL THING YOU! I AM SO GOING TO GET YOU BACK FOR THIS YOU LITTLE DEMON! WAIT, I CAN'T CALL YOU THAT SINCE TECHNICALLY WE'RE ALL DEMONS, BUT WHO GIVES A DAMN? I'LL GET YOU!"  
  
Kurama sat and patiently waited for her shouting fit to subside. When it didn't, Kurama slapped her across the face hard enough to stop her, but not hard enough to slap her out of her half-asleep state. "We can handle this in the morning. For now, let's get some sleep." he suggested, closing the mini fridge on his way to his bed. Solaris sat up for a while after that, mumbling about how dead Foxglove was going to be when she caught her in the morning and used her 'whooping lotus spinning punch' or something like that on her. Kurama put up with it for about 15 minutes, then threw his pillow at the ticked off foxgirl and yelled "SHUT UP AND GO TO SLEEP SOLARIS!" Solaris did. The other campers heaved a sigh of relief. The first scream had woken them up and the continued irate shouts from two other parties hadn't helped.  
  
Meanwhile in the car, Hiei heaved a sigh of relief. He had almost gotten back to his dream about conquering the world by decapitating the characters from all those shows on regular TV in the morning and afternoons. Every morning he thanked Kami-Sama that Solaris had satellite and, when she beat him over the head every morning with whatever plushie she happened to have her hand on when Hiei's loud rock music straight off of MTV woke her up, he took it back. It was another thing that he missed about Solaris's house in Tokyo. Foxglove sighed, mumbled something about being too full to eat anymore, and rolled over in the passenger seat of the car. Hiei briefly considered yelling 'you ought to be, you ate all our food,' but he reconsidered. If she woke up, she might ask if she could cuddle with him until she fell asleep again. She had done it before.  
  
_Flashback:  
  
Hiei had been in a deep sleep, dreaming of the death of certain stalking fox demons that were at the least a thorn in his side. Suddenly the phone rang, startling him out of his slumber. Solaris had seen fit to put a phone in every occupied room. Using his Jagan eye, he saw Solaris turn over, turn off the ringer on her French style rotary phone she had found at a yardsale for 10 bucks, watched as Kurama, who was spending the night, unplugged the cord from the actual microphone part of the speakerphone in his room, and he watched Foxglove pick up the phone, listen for a second, then he heard her shout.  
  
"WE DON'T WANT ANY!" she shouted. Hiei sighed, finally it was sleep time. But his dream was never to be realized. Just then Foxglove entered his room. As always she looked surprised at his room and the accumulation of black items therein, but she got over it pretty quick.  
  
"Hiei, can I sleep in here tonight? I can't sleep in my room for the phone ringing off the damn hook." Foxglove asked. It was Hiei's turn to be surprised; Foxglove had never cursed to his knowledge before.  
  
"Pick that word up from Solaris?" he asked in shock.  
  
"Yes. And a few others too, which I'm sure you don't want to hear. So can I sleep in here with you or not?" Foxglove asked, now having shocked Hiei wide awake.  
  
"Hm... NO." Hiei declared angrily. The muse had totally changed his opinion of her, and it was not for the better. Hiei hated that, especially the opinion changing part, since his normal course of action would be to remove the offender in a violent way. If he did that to Foxglove, Solaris would boot him out of the house so fast his head would spin.  
  
"Please?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Pleeease?"  
  
"NO." This routine repeated for about five minutes until a very irritated Solaris entered the room behind her muse, one of the more colorful things in the room due to her red oriental robe with the light petal pink collar of her nightshirt above it.  
  
"Okay, one, I feel like I have just walked into a black hole, and two, let her stay in here so she'll shut the hell up and let me get some rest, god dammit." Solaris said, very bitchy (another word Hiei had heard fall from her lips, often to describe herself.) in the early AM. Hiei shut up and scooted over on the bed to let Foxglove lie down. Solaris nodded, looking for the entire world like a very royal personage.  
  
"Stupid princess attitude of that annoying fox girl...as if one isn't enough." Hiei muttered. Solaris's ears twitched at that insult and she somehow summoned a crowbar to beat Hiei over the head with. It went something like the following:  
  
"Stupid, **-thud-** insulting, **-thud-** fire **-thud-** youkai, **-thud-** always **-thud-** gotta **-thud-** be **-thud-** dissing **-thud-** the one **-thud-** nice enough **-thud-** to give him **-thud-** a room **-thud-** in her home...**-thud-** " and so it went. Finally, after she had released all her tension and Hiei had about a billion bumps on his head, she made the crowbar vanish and stood with one hand on her hip, the other in the air and her head turned to face it, a victoriously arrogant expression on her face, something you didn't see often. "And that is how I win this. Don't forget that I am the princess of this home. Go on, Foxglove. Go to sleep so I can get some rest already." Foxglove smiled, laid down way too close to Hiei for his comfort, but since he was half unconscious, he couldn't care less. Solaris nodded and left the room.  
  
"Stupid fox girl..." Hiei mumbled. Solaris darted back, crowbar raised threateningly.  
  
"You know, I have this and I have a steel pipe, not to mention a broom handle and several other blunt objects at my disposal. I can always beat you to a bloody pulp if you bug me." she said. Hiei muttered a garbled 'no thanks' and passed out.  
  
End Flashback_  
  
Of course, Foxglove chose that moment to wake up. "Hiei, can I sleep back there with you?" she asked. Hiei, knowing that if he said no, Solaris would storm out of the camper and beat him over the head with something (and that was not an experience he wanted to repeat, thank you!) until he was unconscious. So he just sighed, unlocked his door and nodded. "Yay!" Foxglove cried as she hopped out of the car to join him. You could practically see the hearts surrounding her as she leaned on him and fell asleep right away. Hiei sighed and tried to recall what he had been dreaming just as he drifted off to sleep.  
  
The next morning, Solaris actually woke up early. Her rustling around for something to eat woke Kurama. He looked at his watch, it was about 7:30 in the morning. "Solaris, it's 7:30. Why are you awake? For as long as I've known you, I've had trouble getting you out of bed before 9." he mumbled. She gave him the pillow back, which had lain on the floor since he threw it at her the previous night.  
  
"I never said you had to wake up at 7:30. I've just adopted a habit to get myself into shape again. I wake up, do some stretches and deep breathing exercises, and sometimes practice kendo. I left my sword at home, so kendo is out, but I can take an early morning run to the store instead of that." she smiled, then took out her wallet. "Uh, I have a grand total of, uh, one dollar and 23 cents. Do you have any I could borrow?" she blushed. Kurama pulled his wallet out from the bed and looked inside.  
  
"Uh, will a buck 80 help any?" he asked. Solaris sighed and began stretching her arms.  
  
"Well, I guess that unless Hiei has about 20 clams on him, we're in deep trouble. And I'm sure he doesn't. I know for a fact that Foxglove is always broke, the freeloader. Time for my good old standby!" Solaris cried in glee.  
  
"Dare I ask what it is?" Kurama sighed.  
  
"I will pick a few pockets on my morning run! I have recently mastered this technique!" she smiled brightly. Kurama sweatdropped.  
  
"How do you know that you've mastered this technique?" he asked.  
  
"Recall that 20 dollars you lost a few days ago?" Solaris grinned. (A/N: I can't translate American currency into yen, so you'll just have to make do with the American until I learn.)  
  
"Yeah, I remember." he nodded with regret. "Wait, don't tell me that was you?"  
  
"Okay then, I won't tell you." Solaris smiled as she began stretching her legs and hamstrings in preparation for the run. Kurama sighed, deciding to follow her to make sure she didn't get herself caught. She changed to her human disguise, told Kurama to wait outside for a minute, then reemerged in a pair of red shorts, a white tank top and a red net jacket, small backpack on her back and red jogging shoes on. She smiled at him and dashed off before he could say a word. Kurama quickly changed to a different outfit and followed her.  
  
As he watched, he had to admit she was pretty good. Her technique was to "accidentally" bump into some person and rifle their wallet or purse while the person was distractedly looking around. That is, she was doing great until she bumped into a random guy who caught her and tried to pull her close. Kurama got very angry for some reason, all of the sudden. He tried to get closer and saw her smiling brightly, as if she liked the guy. This ticked Kurama off even more, so he finally got close enough to hear what they were saying.  
  
"Come on, we can go to my place for breakfast." the random guy smiled, hitting on Solaris to the extent of his abilities (which were pretty good). Solaris never dropped that bright smile.  
  
"Do you want me to break your thumbs?" she asked pleasantly, as if she were asking 'would you like one lump of sugar or two in your coffee?'  
  
"I cook really well." the guy wheedled. Solaris still smiled, it was creeping him out now.  
  
"Do you want me to break your thumbs and shout out 'rapist'? Because I will you know." she grinned, still keeping the pleasant tone to her voice. Kurama had known she was an actress, but of this caliber? He hadn't been sure.  
  
"Me? A rapist? Why would you think that?" the guy asked, a touch nervous. This girl had a relentless smile and spoke of dreadful things in a tone that for the entire world sounded as if she were talking about the beautiful weather.  
  
"Well, in case you can't tell, I'm only 16, and you look about, uh, 19 or 20, 21 at the most. So it'd be rape. I could keep quiet about this you know..." Solaris grinned. The random guy blinked and began to beg.  
  
"Anything! You name it!" he pleaded. Solaris held out a hand.  
  
"50 bucks. Take it or leave it." she smiled. The man hauled out his wallet and gave her the 50 dollars she had demanded, then ran from the girl with the relentless smile. Kurama went to join her as she snickered and counted the cash in her hand. "25, 75, 85, 100! All right! Moolah!" she smiled quietly. The 16 –year old fox boy stared from the money to the girl.  
  
"How on earth... Oh, never mind. You were really risking it back there! What if he had tried to rape you?" Kurama asked.  
  
"I'd have kicked his arse from here to Timbuktu." Solaris stated simply. Knowing her, she would have, too.  
  
"Okay, but I thought you never could say 'rapist' or 'rape' without blushing for saying something so vulgar." he sighed, wondering what had happened to the innocent Solaris of yesteryear. She smiled at him.  
  
"Hey, I had to grow up sometime. Might as well use this big vocabulary of mine, after all, what's the point of having it if you don't use it?" she answered. Kurama sighed.  
  
"That was a very dangerous thing you did back there! Don't ever do it again, I don't want to see my gir- I mean, my friend, raped." he said. Solaris smiled, she knew exactly what he had intended to say.  
  
"Don't be jealous, my dear Kurama. I don't go for his type anyway. Too cocky." she smiled as she continued her trek to the store. Upon her return, she cooked breakfast for everyone (after finding a place to take a shower of course!) and they set off for their unknown destination once again.  
  
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Whew! Long chapter, eh? But it was a really funny one if you ask me. Well, I'm still taking applications, and now I need votes for something! I'm considering bringing the twins from chapter 2 back in at some point in time, and I'm seriously thinking about bringing the random guy who Solaris conned 50 bucks out of from this chapter back too. So tell me what you think of it and please send in those applications! Ja Ne!

(PS: I know it seems like Kurama and Solaris are more than just friends. To tell you the truth... Aw, hell, it IS true! It's just that neither will admit they like the other! There, happy now that you dragged that confession out of me? What's next, my shoe size? What my fave food is? Where I go swimming? **-Continues hysterical listing of increasingly ridiculous things until Foxglove subdues with a well-placed hit with a mallet-**

Foxglove: She'll be conscious in time to write the next chapter in this insane fic. Please read, review, vote, send in an application, or question us about hidden meanings. This girl wants to know that there are people out there who actually READ this fic. Just, please, don't get her started on true confessions again. I know when she wakes up I won't hear the end of this...)


	4. Misfiring spark plugs,kidnapped by nuns!

YYH Road Trip  
  
Chapter 4  
  
Solaris: I don't own YYH, okay? We've been through this a billion times.

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Solaris drove cautiously, it was a curved road and she did not want her car damaged in any way. She had bought gas on the way out of the RV camp and they were down to about 25 dollars and 54 cents. Hiei sat back, staring out his window, bored.  
  
"Trees, trees, bamboo out the ears, kudzu, more trees. Nothing I couldn't have seen at home in that... what's that word you use to describe that forest at home, Solaris?" Hiei sighed.  
  
"Gimongus. And I dunno, I think this forest beats anything I saw here or in Reikai." Solaris said. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted them.  
  
"Yeah, about the Reikai thing. I still don't get how a fox demon can live in Reikai and get away with it." Hiei asked. Her response was always good for a laugh.  
  
"We've been through this a million times. I was with that acting company of thieves, and we happened to be touring that part of Reikai, remember?" Solaris sighed. Hiei could see her in the rearview mirror, and the long- suffering look on her face was so animated it was funny.  
  
"Hold it, something I don't get. You were in that company how? You just mastered picking pockets, and originally, Kuwabara caught you stealing that gem." Kurama said. (A/N: I'm in the process of writing Solaris's origins at the moment, so bear with me and just read on. You won't hear much more about her past anymore, anyway.)  
  
"Don't remind me. That wasn't the high point of my career. I'm thinking of glossing over it in my memoirs, if I even write a memoir. I was better at illusion. I could pull a gem out and all the surveillance would see would be a brief flash of nothing before it'd be there again. And I'd be long gone before the illusion faded." Solaris explained. This was a part of her history no one had heard before. Suddenly, Solaris's car began to shudder. She pulled off into a small clearing that was hidden from the rest of the road. She stopped the car, popped the hood open, propped it up and began her search for the problem.  
  
"What's the deal, what's wrong?" Hiei asked, a bit irate. "You want those cops to catch us?"  
  
"Okay, Hiei, two things. One, my car is shuddering and that's not good. Two, we're out of their jurisdiction." Solaris said from under the hood. "I think I found the problem. One of the spark plugs isn't firing right. Probably the first one on the left. I replaced the others the day before we left, but I didn't have the money to buy another one." Solaris shut the hood, a small smudge of something on her cheek. She gave Hiei a 10-dollar bill. "Okay, I need a spark plug for a '92 Toyota Corolla. It can't cost more than that, I mean, honestly. There's a town about five miles from here, and an auto parts store. Please try to be back before sundown, okay? It's 3:50 now." Solaris said. Hiei 'hn'-ed and left.  
  
"Solaris, you have a smudge, I'll get it." Kurama said just as Solaris wiped it off herself.  
  
"Thanks, I think I can handle it." she smiled. So they sat to wait for Hiei to return. He did, but only a few minutes before the sun set.  
  
"Sorry, inventory problem. Had to go to the next town over. Lucky for me it wasn't too far." Hiei said as he handed her the box with the spark plug and sat down, just barely tolerating Foxglove's fussing over him.  
  
"Keep the change. Thanks, Hiei." Solaris smiled as she opened the hood and grabbed the socket wrench from her small tool kit from the trunk. She silently thanked her lucky stars that her grandfather figure from the company had taught her how to do things like this. Pretty soon the car was fixed and purring like a kitten.  
  
"Let's stay here for the night. It might be for the best." Kurama said. Solaris nodded in agreement as she got her keys and locked the car.  
  
"You two aren't sleeping in the car tonight, either. There's enough room in the camper if we share beds." Solaris smiled. She was getting Hiei back for earlier, and he reacted in the exact way she had hoped.  
  
"WHAT? No way am I sharing a bed with that muse!" Hiei said stubbornly.  
  
"Now, I never said how we were going to do this, but since you insist..." Solaris grinned evilly.  
  
Later, as he sat in the bed by the sleeping muse, Hiei mentally cursed himself for doing that. Solaris was asleep by Kurama, smiling peacefully in her slumber, and Hiei knew that Kurama was watching her sleep. She had been so tired that she had just climbed into the bed and fallen asleep instantly. Hiei was getting tired himself, so he laid down and turned his back to the muse. If this kept up, it would be one long trip.  
  
Later that night, a lone figure crept up to the camper and tried the door. It yielded easily and, in the moonlight, the person could see to get around. They tiptoed to the bed Solaris was in and gasped as if in shock. Then the figure crept back to the door and motioned. Four more figures joined the original to pick up Solaris by her feet and arms. She came to as they moved her and began to ask something, but the original figure slapped a hand over her mouth. Solaris tried to scream but it was muffled and her captors had no problem removing her from her home on the road.  
  
When they arrived at their destination, they released Solaris, who promptly stood her ground in a furious fighting stance that she had learned from watching many fights. One of the figures switched on a light and began to ream her out.  
  
"Sister Guiniviere! It's not bad enough that you ran from the convent, but to be in the same bed as a man? For shame!"  
  
"Oh God. I have been kidnapped by nuns." Solaris sighed. (A/N: I'm not nun-phobic or anything. I just thought this would be a cute situation.) "Ladies, I'm not this Sister What's-her-name. I'm a 16-year old girl. And that wasn't a man, that was a 16-year old... Wait, yeah, he's a man." Solaris said, recalling how old Kurama really was. "Now let me go, you Catholic Amazons!"  
  
"Sister Guiniveire! Put on your habit and get to chapel this instant!" one of the nuns commanded as she threw Solaris a habit. Solaris held it up to see it was just her size.  
  
"Now I see why they think that I'm her." Solaris grumbled as she looked at the drape of the habit on her 5'3" frame. (A/N: In all my stories, Solaris, Foxglove and Hiei are the same height. No like? Deal.) During chapel, Solaris imitated the other sisters and prayed that she could escape soon. After it was over, Solaris got 'lost' and pulled her cell phone out of its case. (She had fallen asleep so fast that she hadn't even removed the case from her belt loop.) Turning it on, she dialed Foxglove's number and hoped someone would answer. Foxglove did.  
  
"Moshi Moshi?" the muse yawned.  
  
"Foxglove, it's Solaris. The nuns have me."  
  
"Solaris, I thought you were Church of Christ, not Catholic."  
  
"YOU DIMWIT! I MEAN THE NUNS KIDNAPPED ME!" Solaris half yelled, half whispered.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Now listen closely. There's an old stone convent a short walk away from where the camper is parked. Can't take more than five minutes if you walk fast. Get the guys and get over here NOW!" Solaris growled as she hung up. Within five minutes, a familiar voice rang throughout the convent.  
  
"Solaris? Where are you?"  
  
"Kurama!" Solaris yelled as she rushed toward him. As she hugged his neck, she whispered, "Get me the hell out of here, please! I want out of this damn outfit."  
  
"Sister Guiniveire!" one of the nuns shouted in alarm. Solaris turned around and threw the habit back at the nuns, revealing her jeans and white T-shirt.  
  
"I'm not her! I am Solaris Moon, and the furthest thing from a nun!"  
  
"Prove it. Say your Hail Marys. If they're wrong, you can leave." a nun demanded. Solaris borrowed a rosary from a nun and began to speak. Unfortunately, in her acting company days, one of the spirits had been a former Catholic and Solaris, having the nearest tent to them, had subconsciously learned the Hail Marys. (A/N: I'm not Catholic, so I don't know them.) When told that they were correct, Solaris stole Foxglove's cell phone and handed it to Kurama.  
  
"Okay, Kurama, what's my ring tone? Since these whack jobs don't think I'm me." Solaris said in fury.  
  
"Koori no Naifu wo Daite. (Embracing the ice knife)." Kurama replied, deciding not to ask why her ring tone was one of his songs.  
  
"Dial my cell phone. If that isn't my ring tone, I'm Sister whoever-she- is." Solaris said. Kurama dialed it and sure enough, Koori no Naifu wo Daite played. The nuns quickly apologized and released Solaris, and, upon arriving back at the camper, she locked the door once they were all inside.

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True confessions for this chapter: 1) You may never see Yusuke and Kuwabara in this fic, but you'll hear about them sometimes. 2) Deep down, Hiei likes Foxglove, but mostly as a friend. Read, review, vote, or send in an application. The list of things to vote on is below: Bring back the twins from chapter 2? Bring back the random guy who was hitting on Solaris from chapter 3? Bring back the nuns from this chapter?


	5. I'm not cold!

YYH Road Trip!  
  
Solaris: Me no own YYH. This is the continuation to the previous chapter. Oh, and if you can't tell what the titles of the chapters are, ask me in an e-mail or a review. Well, read on! Chapter 5: I'm not cold, leave me alone!  
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As soon as the camper door was locked, Foxglove got a blanket and tried to drape it over Solaris's shoulders. She pushed it off, sat on her bed, and glared at her muse, who had done nothing to deserve her fury except being in the wrong place at the wrong time.  
  
"I DON'T NEED A DAMNED BLANKET, BAKA! I'M NOT COLD, I WAS KIDNAPPED BY DELUSIONAL NUNS! IF ANYTHING, I SHOULD BE TRAUMATIZED! BUT I'M NOT SO THAT'S THAT! NOW LEAVE ME ALONE!" Solaris shouted, throwing the keys to the car at Hiei. "Take the damned keys and go sleep in the car! I need a bodyguard in case those nuns return and I know you'd rather sleep in the car anyway! Just take Foxglove with you so I don't have to FREAKING MURDER HER, DAMMIT!" Hiei took the keys all too gladly, pulled the muse out of the camper by her tail, and ran to the car. Kurama re-locked the door and went to sit on the edge of Solaris's bed just as Solaris laid down.  
  
"Solaris, do you want to talk about it?" he asked. She simply turned over and 'hn'-ed. "Someone has hung out with Hiei for too long. Come on, tell me what's wrong." he gently said, trying to get a few answers out of the foxgirl.  
  
"Well, the kidnapping by NUNS might just be the problem!" Solaris said furiously. Kurama leaned over her, ignoring Youko's suggestions. (A/N: Youko has broken into Solaris's room several times in the origins story already, and each time Hiei has had to drag him out of there by the shirt. By the way, her origins are almost finished.) Her eyes were closed, and he could see tears at the edges. He laid beside her, trying to comfort her as best as he could. "And my stupid, persistent muse..." she trailed off. Then she realized that one of her best friends was lying behind her. "Uhm, what are you doing?" she asked.  
  
"Trying to comfort you. So whatever's wrong, just say it." he said softly. Her breathing became a little ragged, it was a side effect of her slight fear of Youko's ways. But she did start talking.  
  
"I don't get the whole blanket thing. If you fall into a lake in the middle of winter or get locked in a freezer, that I could understand. But it's summer, and I was kidnapped. So what was with the blanket? In a situation like this, I don't need a blanket, I need a hug. But little miss gotta-be-independent-so-Hiei-will-like-me doesn't get that." Solaris said, her breathing returning to normal.  
  
"So all people in situations like yours need are hugs?" Kurama asked.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So if I hugged you like this, you'd feel better..." he said as he held Solaris close. She smiled a little; it _was_ making her feel better.  
  
"Yeah..." she breathed softly. Pretty soon her breathing was softer, and Kurama could tell that she had fallen asleep. He smiled; by morning, she'd be better, back to her normal hyperactive self.  
  
The next morning, Hiei got out of the car and stretched. He was really missing the house and his soft bed. Soon he noticed a sheet of red hair watching him from the car. Foxglove was smiling at him. "What?" he asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing. Cutie." she grinned deviously. "Hey, have you noticed what time it is?" she asked.  
  
"No, I just woke up. Why?" Hiei asked, treading back over to the car just in time to hear the song on the radio finish and the D.J talk.  
  
"Hey, it's 8:45 in the A.M! I'm..." the radio said before Foxglove cut the ignition.  
  
"Yeah, so it's 15 until 9, so? I've never seen Solaris get out of bed before 9 before. Unless it was to clobber me with a plushie for listening to MTV too loud, but she went back to bed and back to sleep right after that, so it doesn't count. Either way, it's not unusual." Hiei said.  
  
"Boy, are you oblivious to everything when you watch MTV! She's started waking up at 7:30 to get back in shape. Kendo exercises and such. She's been doing this for about three weeks now. I've never seen her break this pattern except that one day that the batteries in her alarm clock burned out." Foxglove said, leaning out the window. Hiei simply sat down in the back of the car. Foxglove turned to face him. "Well?"  
  
"Well what?" Hiei asked. He had his suspicions that Foxglove wanted him to go find out what was wrong.  
  
"Well aren't you going to go see what's wrong?"  
  
"They probably locked the door again, so no. I am not busting down the door of that camper." Hiei sighed. Foxglove picked up a paper clip from the change holder behind the emergency brake.  
  
"I never said you had to. I can pick the lock. C'mon, aren't you the least bit curious?" she smiled. Hiei had to admit, he did have a slight curiosity. So he watched as Foxglove picked the lock with the bent paper clip and opened the door. Both of them walked into the camper silently to see Solaris and Kurama sleeping really close to each other. Kurama had one arm draped over her waist and she looked happy. Foxglove whipped out a camera and took a few quick pictures. "Priceless!" she breathed. Hiei had to fight not to laugh. Just then, Kurama moved a little and Solaris stirred. The two sneaky demons ran out of the camper and re-locked the door faster than any normal person could even blink.  
  
Solaris sat up blearily, then tapped Kurama's shoulder. "Hey, Kurama. Time to wake up, sleepy." she said. He sat up as well, and looked at Solaris.  
  
"You look way sleepier than me. But who cares? Come on, I'll help get breakfast ready." he smiled. She shook her head.  
  
"Uh-uhn. We're going to eat in an actual restaurant today. And I know exactly where to go where all four of us can eat for under 15 dollars!" she smiled. "McDonalds!"  
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Well, short chappie, but it's just a conclusion to the previous chapter. Read and review, and vote! Bring back the twins from chapter 2? Bring back the dude who was conned out of 50 bucks by Solaris? Bring back the nuns? Or if you don't want to vote, e-mail me and send in an application to be in later chapters! Ja Ne! 


	6. The Haunted Hotel

YYH Road Trip!  
  
Solaris: I don't own YYH. If I did, you'd see Kurama a lot more often. And he'd have appeared a lot sooner. And it would have been about him, not Yusuke. **-Bopped by Foxglove to get her back on track-** Ah, yes. Well, read on, peeps!

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It was early twilight when the rain began. It was the 4th day away from home, and Hiei was considering jumping out of the car window and running home. Well, if he survived the jump, which he didn't put past himself, but still didn't want to try it, just in case. Solaris was driving again, Kurama sat in the front seat, and Foxglove was sitting by the other window. Suddenly, a flash of lighting could be seen, followed by a loud rumble. Foxglove tried to hide under Hiei's cloak.  
  
"I'm afraid of STORMS!" she cried. Solaris flicked the windshield wipers to high.  
  
"Hiei, do something to comfort her. I'm looking for the nearest hotel as we speak." she said, repressing a sigh. Hiei, new to this comforting business, tried an unorthodox tack.  
  
"Nothing to be afraid of, a little rain can't hurt you..." he said. Foxglove just tried to burrow deeper into his cloak at the next sound of thunder.  
  
"IF LIGHTNING HITS YOU, IT CAN!" she shouted.  
  
"Uh, Hiei? Just so you know, that's not comforting." Solaris said. Hiei opened a telepathic channel to Kurama's mind.  
  
_-Uh, Kurama? How in the Makai do I go about comforting someone?-  
_  
_-You mean you don't know how? Well, just hold her. Don't say anything about how irrational you think her fear of storms is.-_ replied Kurama. _-That's what works with Solaris. At least, it did last night.-  
_  
Hiei closed off the channel and smiled. So that was why they had been sleeping so close together. Hiei uneasily put an arm around Foxglove and patted her back gently. She buried her face into his cloak and just then, he noticed Solaris's smiling eyes in the rearview mirror.  
  
"Awwww, how cute! Hiei's blushing." she smiled. Kurama put a hand on her arm, calling her attention back to the road. And so the rain kept pouring down. Pretty soon it was so bad that Solaris couldn't see to drive anymore. "Guys, we're going to have to stop here for the night. Good thing I picked a few pockets during lunch." she said. They had a grand total of 200 bucks, half from a guy who had hit on Solaris, and then moved on to Kurama. He had gotten pounded by Solaris and Kurama, both screaming that the guy was an idiot. Solaris had then robbed him.  
  
They entered the small inn. "So sorry, ladies and gents, we're out of rooms." the man at the desk said.  
  
"Oh, Grampa, there is a room, and you know it! These poor people probably need rest, I mean, I can see how tired the auburn haired girl is!" a teenaged girl, not older than 14, said. Solaris didn't even dispute the tired thing.  
  
"Granddaughter, you know that's the haunted room. And tonight's the anniversary of the haunting. We can't let them stay there!" an old lady said. "You know how the murderer's ghost gets on the anniversary of his death."  
  
"Lady, I ain't afraid of ghosts. I won't say don't believe in them, but I'm not afraid of them. Please. We need somewhere to stay. We'll pay you." Solaris pleaded. The old man sighed.  
  
"Sometimes I hate being so soft hearted. Okay. You can stay there tonight. And if you survive, no charge." the man said. "Delilah, lead them to the room, please." he said, and his granddaughter smiled.  
  
"Follow me. It's on the third floor, and we haven't gotten around to getting an elevator installed yet." Delilah smiled as she led them to the staircase.  
  
"Say, what's with this 'murderer's ghost'? What happened?" Hiei asked. Delilah began to ascend the stairs.  
  
"It's said that back when my grandfather was a boy, a man came to spend the night. He was a murderer, but no one knew it at the time. All they knew was that he would pay handsomely. Pretty soon another man drove up, demanding to know if they had seen a certain man. The man was covered in blood and the man he described had fit the visitor's description, so they led him inside." Delilah explained as they reached the second floor.  
  
"And?" Solaris asked.  
  
"Well, the guy stormed up to the room the man was staying in. He confronted him with the murder of his wife and children. The other man grabbed my grandfather's sister by the wrist, and threatened to kill her. She was 15, and my grandfather was very protective of his sister, so he kicked the man's shins. The man had to release his hold on her and the guy pulled out a gun and shot the man dead." Delilah said. "To this day, she has a small scar on her arm where he held the knife to her."  
  
"That still doesn't explain the haunting and the fear." Kurama said. The group ascended the stairs and reached the third floor landing.  
  
"Well, with his dying breath, the murderer vowed not to ever leave the room until his soul was revenged. Since then, every year on the date of his death, he has dragged some poor soul into death with him. Usually a pretty girl. Here's the room. Please be careful." Delilah said, sounding worried.  
  
"Pretty girls, eh? We have nothing to worry about." Hiei said. Somehow Solaris and Foxglove pulled out metal baseball bats from nowhere and began to pummel Hiei.  
  
"Oh we'll show you not pretty!" they shouted. Pretty soon Kurama dragged Hiei into the room and the girls followed. Solaris turned on the light to look at the room. She suddenly shivered. "Ugh... I just got this feeling... like something dragged it's finger up my spine. But it's probably just nerves!" she cried, giving them a nervous smile.  
  
"Yeah, you have been driving since this morning. Come on, let's get some sleep." Kurama smiled as he pulled a pair of pajamas out of the small overnight bag he had carried in with him and headed to the bathroom in the room.  
  
"Hiei and I will take the bed closest to the door." Foxglove said, holding on to Hiei's arm.  
  
"Yeah, so you can bail any time the ghost shows up." Solaris said as she pulled her pajamas out of her small suitcase. "Since it appears that the bathroom is taken, I call the screen." Solaris said, tapping gently behind the screen.  
  
"Uh, Solaris? That screen is right in front of the window. I doubt that anyone can see in this blinding rain, but just have some patience." Foxglove said.  
  
"Heh, easy for you to say. You were hiding under Hiei's cloak when he ran to the door, so you hardly got wet. Kurama and I had to lug out the overnight bags and we got soaked. I'm getting ready for bed and that's that." Solaris said, peeking out from behind the screen. Soon she came out from behind the screen, her soaking clothes draped over it to dry. Kurama was sitting on the bed by that time, and had a towel for her hair ready. She flopped down on the end of the bed, grabbed the towel and began drying her hair.  
  
"So do you put any faith in this ghost story stuff?" she asked Kurama.  
  
"I don't know. I mean, we work with ghosts, and you felt a shiver when you came in here, but maybe it was nerves and cold." Kurama shrugged. Solaris finished drying her hair.  
  
"Yeah, same here. But who really cares? Let's just get some sleep." Solaris said as she draped the towels with her clothes. Hiei got off the bed and turned off the light. Pretty soon all four teens were asleep. A little later, Solaris woke up to feel like someone was dragging a finger up her spine. Sleepily, she turned over and mumbled "Foxglove, that's not a very funny joke." This woke Kurama up, and he looked to see the auburn foxgirl, face buried in the shoulder of his pajamas, trying to get warm again. He looked over her to see that Foxglove was still the closest to the door, and still asleep.  
  
"Solaris, Foxglove is still asleep. You're feeling things." he said drowsily. Then he noticed a slight silver glow. "Uh, Solaris... never mind. Hiei!" he hissed. Hiei woke up and looked over.  
  
"Oh, damn..." Hiei whispered. Foxglove, sensing the slight shift of Hiei's weight, woke up and turned over.  
  
"Whassa matter, Hiei-Sama? Oh..." she said, trailing off. Solaris sat up.  
  
"Okay, why do I get the feeling that I'm being left out of something?" she said in a half-asleep stupor. She turned her head to see the shape, and then looked at Kurama. "Oh. AIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" she screamed. Kurama blinked at how loud she was, and just when he thought that she'd wake someone up, she fainted. Foxglove had passed out long ago.  
  
"At last... The most beautiful girl to ever enter this room... My revenge... IS NOW!" the ghost said in a hollow voice. Kurama and Hiei jumped out of their beds.  
  
"Not if I can help it!" Kurama said. Hiei drew his katana and glared at the ghost. "Hey, wait. How are we supposed to fight this thing?" Kurama asked. Just then the door burst open. Delilah stood there.  
  
"You aren't. I will!" she cried, then began mumbling some words in a different language. The ghost began to vanish, crying 'noooo..." as it did. Delilah stood in the doorway, smiling. "This happens often. He's easily banished with an exorcism spell. See ya!" she called jauntily. Hiei shut the door in shock.  
  
"Okay, what just happened here?" he asked.  
  
"It would seem that our host's granddaughter came and saved us all." Kurama said, in shock as well. The two gave up trying to figure out what had happened, and just went back to sleep.  
  
The next day, the group left the hotel to see the shining sun. True to his word, the old man had let them stay for free. She stretched and smiled, soaking up the sun like a cat would. "Hm..." she practically purred. Just then, Delilah ran from the hotel.  
  
"Miss! You dropped your hair brush!" she cried, running after Solaris. "Oh, and the ear and tail thing, I'll be quiet about it." she smiled. Solaris smiled back, and the group left the haunted hotel.

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Solaris: Read and review, such on such forth. Ja Ne!


	7. Picking up Peoples!

Road Trip: YYH style!  
  
Solaris: Well, today I introduce a few new characters! More humorous situations will ensue, this time on Road Trip!   
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Chapter 7: Picking up peoples!   
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"Solaris, where are we supposed to be going, because I think we're lost." Kurama asked. He was driving this time. Foxglove was sacked out in the camper, and Hiei was listening to a CD player in the back seat. Solaris, sitting in the passenger seat, was holding a map in her hands.  
  
"We aren't lost. See, we take this road and turn right. That'll get us to Kyoto in no time!" she cheered. Kurama took his eyes from the road for a split second to look at the map.  
  
"Solaris, you're holding the map upside down. We're lost." he sighed. She looked at it and turned it right side up.  
  
"Yeah. I guess so. Hey, have you ever noticed that if you took the last two letters from Kyoto and put them first, you'd have Tokyo?" she smiled. Hiei bopped her in the back of the head.  
  
"That was a useless bit of info for one, and for another, we're lost." he sighed. Solaris stared out of her window, then pointed and jumped, startling Kurama enough to make him hit the brakes.  
  
"Look! People!" she cried. Rolling her window down, she looked at the two people. "Excuse me, do you people know how to get to Kyoto?" A girl with honey colored hair that had aqua streaks in it spoke up.  
  
"Sure. Take this road and turn left when you reach the fork. Can we get a ride? We were headed there ourselves."  
  
"Kurama, what's the big idea? I was asleep back there!" Foxglove yelled from the camper.  
  
"If you can put up with my muse, sure. Hiei, move over back there. I'm Solaris, the guy in the driver's seat is Kurama, and the spiky haired guy in the back is Hiei. And the irate voice in the camper is Foxglove." Solaris smiled. The two climbed into the car.  
  
"I'm Day, and this is Raccoon. Can't believe we found someone going to Kyoto too." Hiei got a better look at the new passengers. Both were girls, but Day was wearing a denim skirt and an aqua halter top, while Raccoon wore short black denim shorts and a black spaghetti strap tank top that proclaimed 'Clowns scare me. They are EVIL!!' The two were carrying backpacks. Day's was aqua and Raccoon's was black. Both had ears, but Raccoon's were dog ears. Day had sky blue fox ears.  
  
"Now we have 4 foxes on this trip. What did I do to deserve this?" he sighed.  
  
"Not quite. Five foxes." Raccoon smiled, displaying fox fangs. For the first time, Hiei noticed Raccoon's tail. Suddenly her backpack began to thrash and yell.  
  
"'Ey! Lemme out o' 'ere! Raccoon, if you don' lemme outta this thing this second, I'm going to 'urt you the second I do get out!"  
  
"Uh, did your backpack just speak? And with an Irish accent?" Hiei asked.  
  
"Oh, darn!" Raccoon said as she opened her bag. A small creature jumped out and sat on Kurama's head rest. "Sorry, Jenks. I forgot about you being in there."  
  
"I coul' tell." the creature said in hurt tones. "D'ya know 'ow hot it gets in there? Pixies are delicate creatures y'know."  
  
"Oh, wow! A pixy! I never thought I'd see one!" Solaris said in awe.  
  
"Yeah, I've gotta keep him. He'd get in trouble if I didn't." Raccoon sighed as she twisted a silver hoop in her left ear. "He's a major pain."  
  
"This one seems to appreciate me." Jenks said as Solaris picked him up off the head rest.  
  
"Wow... you'd think pixies would have hair like where they lived, like green for a plains pixy and so on, but this one has blond hair... And some cool gray eyes... Like pearls." Solaris said. "It's so cute!" she said. (She sounded like Kagome when Shippo entered the series.)  
  
"Is this the left you were talking about?" Kurama asked, finally speaking up.  
  
"Yeah, this is the one." Raccoon nodded. Hiei noticed the dark green eyes light up with joy, and he realized that they were almost the same shade as Foxglove's. Why this thought had entered his head now was unknown, but he was determined not to think of the stupid trouble-causing muse now. Soon they stopped at a good restaurant. Solaris had pulled off another successful pocket picking today before they had left the restaurant they had gone to for breakfast. "Solaris, get Foxglove if you would."  
  
"Okay!" she smiled, then ran to the camper and tapped on the door. "Foxglove! Lunch!" Seconds later she was on the ground, twitching. Day came over to help her up.  
  
"That's your muse I suppose." she stated, watching Solaris nod. As soon as they got in there and were seated, Foxglove asked to see the wine list.  
  
"Aren't you a little young ta be drinkin'? I mean, you can't be any older 'n 16." Jenks said. Solaris laughed a little.  
  
"We only look young. We're really 148 years old." she giggled. Day and Raccoon laughed, Jenks did not.  
  
"148? Please. That's not possible. I mean, for all 15 years I've lived, I've never heard of someone who lived that long." Raccoon laughed.  
  
"It's possible if she's a spirit." Jenks said.  
  
"Demons, actually. Fox demons to be precise. And from the look of it, Raccoon here is a dog/fox demon." Solaris said.  
  
"Do you have to take flea baths?" Foxglove laughed. Raccoon glared at her.  
  
"That's it, outside! No one jokes about flea baths in front of me!" she scowled. Day tried to calm ruffled nerves.  
  
"Please, no fighting. This is supposed to be a lunch, not a blood bath. Anyhow, since you two don't look old enough, they wouldn't give us wine anyway. I'm only 17, I can't legally order alcoholic beverages, and none of you even look remotely near 18." she smiled. So the group got through lunch without a hitch.   
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Solaris: Welcome Raccoon (Character by MysticRaccoon) and Day (character by MFlaim)! They'll be here until our group gets to Kyoto!  
  
Raccoon: Why are you guys going to Kyoto?  
  
Hiei: Because the darn foxgirl wanted to. I'd rather be home.  
  
Kurama: Come now, you can't say that it's been dull thus far.  
  
Hiei: Yes I can. -**Glares**-  
  
Day: Read and review, please!


	8. On the road to Kyoto!

Road Trip: YYH style!  
  
Solaris: No own YYH. On with the trip!  
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Chapter 8: On the road to Kyoto!  
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It was late night, Kurama was still driving, Solaris was asleep in the passenger seat, Raccoon was dozing, head against the window, Day was asleep in the camper, as was Foxglove, and Hiei was passed out in the back seat. Even Jenks was asleep, resting on Raccoon's fluffy fox tail. Kurama smiled at how peaceful it was. Suddenly, he hit a bump, which woke everyone up (except the two in the camper, strangely.).  
  
"OW! What the hell?" Raccoon said loudly.  
  
"Damn! I'm surprised that I didn't crack my window with my skull!" Solaris yelled.  
  
"Shit! Can you hit that bump any harder, Kurama?" Hiei asked angrily. Kurama sighed.  
  
"No need for curses, and sorry." he apologized.  
  
"Now, now... Even if th' lad hit th' bump a wee bit hard, it's no reason ta curse at him. Kurama, pull th' car over, if ya would." Jenks said sleepily. Kurama did, he was a little tired himself. And he wasn't sure that this was the shortest way to Kyoto. In fact, he wasn't sure this was the way at all.  
  
"Heh. Hit the bump a little hard? Easy for you to say, you were asleep on my tail." Raccoon muttered. Jenks looked at her angrily.  
  
"No remarks from ya, lass. In fac', I think ya should drive. Ya have a license, use it!" Jenks said angrily. Hiei unlocked his door and got out to switch places with Solaris, the bump had woken him up. Raccoon climbed out of the car just as Foxglove and Day emerged. Day held a 20-ounce Mountain Dew in one hand, Foxglove held a couple of caffeine pills.  
  
"We felt the bump, so who's driving? Caffeine for them!" Foxglove smiled. Day looked to Raccoon, who was climbing into the driver's seat of the car. Kurama had already gone to the back, and Solaris was climbing in on the other side, smoothing her denim skirt as she did. The two hyper girls gave Raccoon the caffeine-laden things, and she took them gladly. Pretty soon the group was on its way again. Raccoon was driving, Hiei was in the passenger seat, watching the scenery, and Jenks was tired himself. He looked to the backseat to see Solaris leaning on Kurama. The two foxes were fast asleep, and Solaris's tail looked so comfortable. He fluttered back there, and landed softly on her tail to fall asleep right away. Hiei looked back after a while to see if the light in the camper was still on. It wasn't, but the sight of Solaris and Kurama leaning on one another asleep was adorable.  
  
"Hey, Raccoon, do you have a camera?" he asked. She nodded, fully awake.  
  
"Yeah, glove compartment. Solaris said I could stash it there at lunch." Raccoon said. Hiei got the camera out and turned around again. Just then, the overhead foliage ended and the full moon shone through. Hiei snapped a picture just then, the camera was a good one, able to take pictures in low light without a flash, and the moonlight was perfect lighting... if you wanted a beautiful scene. Hiei wanted blackmail, and it was obvious he wasn't getting it.  
  
"Damn... I have to take a picture just as the damn foliage ends. It's like some celestial power is determined to thwart me in any attempts to embarrass the fox girl..." he mumbled. (How could he know that Koenma was in his office, laughing his head off? He hadn't orchestrated it, but it was still hilarious!) Raccoon sighed.  
  
"It's digital, I want to see the picture. The road is pretty well a straight stretch, I can afford to look." she said. Hiei figured out how to turn it back a picture, and looked at it. She took a look and smiled. "It's cute. Keep it, maybe they'll want a copy." Hiei sighed but left it.  
  
The next morning, Solaris woke up feeling two weights: one across her stomach, the other on her tail. She looked to see Jenks asleep on her tail and an arm across her stomach. Looking up, she saw Kurama and figured out that it was his arm. Instead of freaking out and screaming, as she would normally do, she merely smiled and leaned back, dozing off again. It wasn't as bad as she had thought it would be.  
  
A few minutes later, Kurama woke up. He realized that he had his arm around Solaris, and the foxgirl in question was asleep. Smiling, he dozed off again himself, not even noting that Day had taken over the driving and they were almost to Kyoto.  
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Solaris: Read, review, no flames please. 


	9. Kyoto At Last!

Road Trip Chapter 9 

Solaris: Yeah, I'm a terrible person. I haven't updated this story in forever, even though I've had it typed out for ages. Well, here is the longest chapter thus far, hope you enjoy it! We have a new character joining us as well, hope she's a success as well!  
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"Well, Kyoto at last!" Solaris smiled as she jumped from the car and into the Kyoto sunshine, breathing in the air deeply. Foxglove pulled a travel brochure from her purse and attempted to swipe the pencil that held Raccoon's hair into a bun, releasing a sheet of hair that fell to her waist.

"Hey! Don't touch the Almighty Pencil of Doominess!" Raccoon cried as she reclaimed the pencil and pulled her hair back up. As she saw Solaris's puzzled look, she sighed. "Don't ask. So where are we staying?"

'Hot springs', 'resort', '5-star hotel', and 'somewhere good' all rang out at once. Solaris sweatdropped, pulled out her wallet, and fell over.

"I'm almost broke…" she anime cried. Day pulled out a credit card and smiled.

"Cyrus gave me her credit card before I left! We can stay anywhere, she's paying!" Day grinned. Solaris jumped up, wallet going into her purse, and she grabbed the card, grinning.

"Cyrus, I never met you, but I think I like you!" she smiled, crying tears of joy.

"Hey, this brochure has a hotel list! Hm… Sakura Resort… extensive hot springs and swimming facilities… indoor water park… five star rating… comfortable suites at low rates… and the one in the picture is only 50 dollars a night. Nice." Kurama smiled, then mentally totaled the price for all six (not counting the pixy, he could pass for a stuffed doll). "Hm… 300 for all of us. Not a bad price, considering."

"So is it a go? Please?" Solaris and Foxglove begged, hands clasped and beggy faces in overdrive.

"Let's!" Day smiled, so back into the car they went. They found the Sakura resort in no time.

"Psst… That was the best suite they showed?" Solaris asked quietly. Kurama nodded and Solaris smiled. "Thanks. The price shocked me."

"We need three double suites for… a week sound good to you guys?" Day asked.

"A WEEK!" Hiei practically shouted. Foxglove tried to soothe him by putting an arm on his hand. She gave him a pitiful 'do it for me if for no one else' look. Hiei hated that look, and if she didn't get her way, she'd keep it up. "Why not?" he sighed.

"That's 2,100 dollars. Cash or charge?" the desk clerk asked. Day handed him the card. Kurama gulped at the price. This was as bad as when Solaris had bought that DDR machine for her house.

What's wrong, Kurama-kun?" Solaris asked quietly as they followed the bellhop to their suites on the 16th floor.

"This is a bit expensive…" Kurama said. Solaris smiled and hugged his arm, which she was holding to keep her balance in the elevator that looked out over Kyoto.

"Don't worry about it. We're not paying for it," she smiled. He nodded, having to agree with her on that.

"Okay, who rooms with who?" Day asked. Hiei told the bellhop that he could handle the suitcases, and the man left, grateful to get away from the crazy looking, fox eared people. Raccoon had oddly quiet, then burst out in an expletive as soon as the man had left.

"Shit, Jenks! Stop kicking me, I know you hate the damned backpack already! Give it a rest!" she hissed.

"I wanna room with Hiei!" Foxglove cried.

"The rooms have two beds. You'd be sleeping alone. Besides," Solaris explained, "I'm thinking Hiei needs some time away from you. Unless you want to be maimed."

"Good point. Kurama, you room with Hiei. Raccoon, you room with Solaris, and Foxglove, you room with me. This way we're all with friends and no one will get ticked off enough to kill anyone. The guys get room 1601, Solaris and Raccoon get room 1603, and Foxglove and I get room 1605." Day smiled. (A/N: Even-numbered rooms are across the hall.) "Let's go visit that hot spring!" Solaris and Raccoon grabbed their suitcases and backpacks and went into room 1603. Solaris gasped in awe.

"Wow!" she cried, dumping her suitcases on the couch, then she ran to the window. It was the first vacation she'd ever been on, so it was a new experience for her. "Now I see why it's called the Sakura Resort. All those sakura trees…" she smiled at the beautiful view. Raccoon claimed the bed nearest the door in the other room. Solaris tore herself from the view long enough to put her suitcases on the bed by the window and opened the first suitcase. She hadn't yet seen the outfits Hiei had pulled out of her closet (recall, she had only packed a few things before having to go make sandwiches for the better part of an hour), and she was pleasantly surprised. Her favorite black miniskirt and strappy black tank top were there, along with a few other black clothes, but there was blue (mostly denim) some green (her tube top, which she wondered why he had packed it, and a green tank top), a few of her light purple shirts, a couple of rose red items, her pink sarong (if only she knew how badly Hiei had wanted to forget that sarong, he wasn't fond of it), a white dress (why he had packed that for her, not even he would know.) and one item she was overjoyed to see.

"My jacket!" she smiled as she hugged the soft rose red denim tightly before hanging it up. She grinned as she pulled the last few items from her backpack: her black bikini, blue one-piece with a low cut back, lavender strapless suit, and a black swimsuit that had a belt attached at the waist. (A/N: Sorry for going into detail about her outfits. And to anyone who is getting the wrong idea: Solaris and Hiei do **NOT** like each other. She just asked him to pack because Foxglove was busy, he had finished packing the fastest, and Kurama was at his house. And as for the swimsuits, I own all but a lavender strapless. And I don't want one either.) He had picked out the suits; she hadn't finished before he had. Quickly she emerged from the room carrying the bikini and sarong to see Raccoon in a black strappy one piece with cuts in the sides and a red miniskirt over it. Jenks was asleep on the couch arm. Solaris smiled and ran into the bathroom to change. She soon emerged, the sarong tied into a short dress (tied once at the waist and again under one arm).

"Ready?" Raccoon asked. Solaris nodded. They met Day (in an azure blue halter bikini and boy shorts swimsuit) and Foxglove (strapless rosy pink bikini with a pair of shorts over the bottom). (A/N: Descriptions are so I don't have to say "the blue tone of the water was rivaled by Day's swimsuit" or "the blush on Foxglove's face was exactly the same tone as her swimsuit". No like? I could care less.)

"The guys want to unpack and they'll be with us soon." Day explained. The four girls strolled down the hall, sandals flopping softly on the carpeted floor. The glass elevator went straight to the hot spring, and they took some robes for after they had finished their visit. (A/N: Again, before anyone gets the wrong idea, they're staying in the suits, I _know _how the hot spring stuff works in anime, and I don't want this to be hentai. They headed to a sauna first thing.

"What is this, a hot spring or a spa?" Foxglove asked.

"Who cares, shut up. This is nice," the other three sighed. Shortly after, it was time to head to the spring!

"This is lovely…" Solaris sighed as she sank into the water after lying her sarong and robe on a deck chair. Agreements were murmured as others followed suit, unaware that the boys were in the sauna now.

"Say, Kurama, did you catch a glimpse of what Day was wearing?" Hiei asked.

"Yes. What about it?" Kurama asked, the white of the towel he had grabbed for when the hot spring trip was over contrasting with the emerald green of his swim trunks. (A/N: And I still end up doing that…)

"She really trends toward halter tops. I've never seen Solaris in a suit like that."

"She doesn't own one like that. And yeah, I noticed. I think it's like your fondness for black." Kurama said, and Hiei nodded.

Meanwhile, the girls were engaged in a water war, of sorts. Then they heard voices from the boy's side of the hot spring. Silently, they swam over and looked into the opposite side to see Hiei and Kurama.

"Anyone else feel like we shouldn't be doing this?" Solaris asked, and was promptly shushed.

Kurama noticed the four sets of fox ears and signaled to Hiei that the girls were listening. "So, Hiei, who do you think would win in a fight, Solaris or Foxglove?" he asked, smiling.

"Oh, I'm thinking Foxglove. She knows all of Solaris's moves." Hiei replied nonchalantly. Actually, he thought Solaris would win, but he knew Kurama wanted to have some fun at the eavesdropping girls' expenses.

"Nah, Solaris can pull blunt objects out of nowhere, remember? Maybe her. You were just going with the one you thought was cuter." He laughed, and a small splash was heard.

"Got me there… Oh, Hell! We know you four are listening, we were joking, now get Foxglove out of there before she drowns." Hiei yelled.

"Actually, that was Solaris." Foxglove said, popping up above the divider, looking unnerved. "Look behind you." The two boys did to see…

"Hey, didn't Solaris bilk him out of 50 bucks by threatening to call out 'rapist'?" Hie asked.

"Yes…" Kurama nodded. He and Solaris had explained the whole mess when she had returned.

"Hey! You were with that lovely young woman. I'm Sota, and you are?" the man asked, dark black hair very damp. (A/N: I think this is the first description of him that I've given. I know this is the first time I've mentioned his name.)

"Kurama, and this is Hiei." Kurama said. Had he trusted this guy to not track him down to get to Solaris, he'd have given his human name. Obviously, he didn't.

"So the lovely lady is named Solaris, eh? I'll save you, sweet Solaris-Chan!" Sota cried as he climbed over the divider. Solaris was conscious and leaned back. "Oh, you're safe. How relieving…" he sighed. All four girl's eyes widened and their collective shriek scared no small amount of people out of the spa for the evening.

"PERVERT!" Solaris shrieked as she began wailing on him.

"SICKO!" Foxglove cried as she pummeled him in the back.

"Aw, you all want me. And you're all so hot, I wouldn't mind it if we had some fun…" he said seductively. The fox eared girls stared at each other momentarily then shrieked again in horror.

"EW! We're minors, dumbass! The oldest here is Day!" Raccoon yelled as she helped Solaris and Foxglove pummel the snot out of the guy.

"And I wouldn't go for a jerk like you!" Day yelled as she tried to strangle him.

"Sounds like the girls have it under control." Hiei smiled. Kurama laughed and nodded as Sota was propelled back into the boy's hot spring, unconscious. "I don't think that he'll want to mess with Solaris for a while." Kurama laughed. Sota came to and grabbed Hiei's shoulders.

"Wrong, I want them more than ever now! What are their phone numbers?" he asked. Hiei shoved him away, a disgusted look on his face.

"Mine and Foxglove's is 1-800-You-Wish." Solaris said and swam away, her muse following.

"Mine is 1-800-Dream-On." Raccoon said as she joined them.

"Mine is 1-800-Get-Lost, division one for 'don't make me throttle you'." Day quipped and followed suit.

"Sheesh, this was supposed to be relaxing. Anyone up for some food?" Solaris asked as they climbed out.

"Yeah, food! We'll have to get Jenks, he'll be starving." Raccoon smiled.

"Guys, if you wanna know what restaurant we're going to, you need to be ready to leave in about half an hour. We'd tell you now, but baka-sama is there." Foxglove sighed.

"Who's Jenks, and can I call you ladies?" Sota asked.

"Jenks is our incredibly mean guard dog, capable of biting your head off in one fell swoop, and hell no, you can't call." Day said, and all that was heard of them after that was the clicking of their sandals down the hall.

"What's the onnas' problems? PMS?" Sota asked.

"Don't be crude, and don't be an idiot. They'd be able to sic you with rape charges if you tried anything, and they'd likely win. Plus, it's people like you who give women a bad outlook on the rest of mankind." Hiei said as he climbed from the hot spring. It was uncharacteristic of him to worry about ningen affairs of love, but hell, these weren't ningen women.

"To quote what Solaris would quote if she were here, 'People like you make people like us need medication.'" Kurama said as he, too, left the spring. He caught up with Hiei in no time. "Everyone has a right to be stupid…" he began.

"But he is abusing the privilege." Hiei finished, nodding his agreement. They headed for their room to get ready for dinner.  
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Solaris was hurrying around the room, looking everywhere for an outfit. The sea-blue robe fluttered on her thin frame, and the sarong was hanging up to dry. Raccoon was ready in a black skirt and a black top that stated 'Stare and Die.' "What to wear…" Solaris cried.

"Why not the denim miniskirt I saw you unpack earlier, and the black tank top. The heeled sandals will go well, and bring the jacket. I dunno why, but fancy restaurants are always cold." Raccoon said. Solaris rushed to the bathroom and changed quickly, then the two girls joined the rest of the group in the hallway. "Sorry, clothing crisis. Ready to go?" she asked. Everyone nodded, and Jenks fluttered down to Raccoon's purse to hide.

"There's a restaurant on the first floor, and a nice one at that. Let's go." Day smiled. Kurama stopped for a minute halfway to the elevator to let Solaris catch up.

"Sorry, the heels are catching." She apologized.

"You looked like you were about to trip. Here, take my arm." He offered. She accepted, blushing as she put her small hands just below the crook of his elbow.

"Hurry up, you two! The elevator won't wait forever!" Foxglove called, and they rushed to the elevator, just making it before the doors closed.

The restaurant wasn't exactly crowded, but a group of women in floor-length black made it appear crowded. (A/N: Guess who?) One turned around and Solaris hid behind Kurama. "What's her problem?" Raccoon asked.

"Those nuns tried to kidnap her once." Kurama sighed.

"What is it, return of those who bug Solaris? Make 'em go away…" she whimpered. They passed the nuns fast and headed toward a booth in the back of the restaurant. (A/N: Sorry, Rooney! They aren't as whack as they were in chapter four! But just wait and see…) Solaris had to roll up her jacket sleeves a little before they could sit down, it was a little warm and she didn't want her sleeves trailing in her food. For reasons only known to herself, Solaris chose to sit on the outside. When no one was looking, she'd reach out and pick someone's pocket quickly. Then she offered to pay for dinner when they were all finished.

"Thought you were almost broke." Day said. Solaris grinned brightly as a short red-haired girl passed their table. Solaris reached into her pocket to find…

"My wallet's gone!" she shrieked. The redhead's shoulders shook slightly. (A/N: Try saying that 5 times fast…) "You! You've absconded with my wallet! Return it this instant, thou fiend!" she shouted before flying tackling the girl and retrieving the fluffy pink wallet, still on the girl's legs.

"Hey, gerroff me, you're heavy!" the girl said loudly. Solaris did, then hoisted her several feet off the floor.

"God, you're light. What's your name?" she asked, furious. Picking pockets was _her_ job; this girl was messing with her dynamics!

"Rooney Darkness. I'm a thief, and from the looks of it, you're a klepto."

"Klepto? I'll have you know I did that to pay for dinner! Well, at any rate, you owe us." Solaris scowled.

"Uh… Up for drinks? There's a kareoke joint around here." Rooney said, blue eyes shining.

"Hm… Sake?" Solaris asked. Everyone else fell flat on their faces.

"Sure, fake I.D." Rooney nodded. Solaris smiled and set her down.

"All right, sake for Solaris!" she smiled as she plunked the cash down on the table.

"You'd think she'd remember she's alcohol intolerant." Kurama sighed. Just as they were about to leave, they saw Sota, his arms around a leggy girl with silvery hair. He got up just as soon as he saw the group.

"Solaris-Chan! Lovely to see you again! And Foxglove-Chan, Raccoon-Chan, and Day-Chan! Oh, a newcomer! What's your name, gorgeous?" he asked Rooney.

"Rooney Darkness." She smiled.

"Ah, you shall join the ranks of my lovely Solaris-Chan, beautiful Foxglove-Chan, luscious Raccoon-Chan, and sparky Day-Chan. You are my gorgeous Rooney-Chan." He smiled.

"Is it just me, or does he seem like a 'playa' to you?" Hiei asked Kurama, using the term he'd heard Solaris use only once.

"He's a playa." Kurama nodded, using the same term.

"I thought I was your gorgeous Ai-Chan" the silvery haired girl pouted.

"No, you're my ravishing Ai-Chan. So, ladies, care to join me? The more the merrier, right?" he asked roguishly. Rooney was the first to slap him.

"If I hadn't forgotten it at home, I wouldn't come near you with a 10-foot pole." She said. Raccoon bopped him across the skull.

"Get a life, asshole." She replied. Day went one step further: she took an empty plate and broke it over his head.

"Get lost, scum." said she. Foxglove bopped him square in the nose, took Hiei's arm, and strolled away, Hiei in shock that anyone could be stupider than Kuwabara. (A/N: Sorry to all the Kuwabara fans reading this, but I think I've said before that I make no pretense of liking him. He's got morals and a thick skull, that's all I can say for him.)

"Playin' loser." she said as she and Hiei walked away.

"Well, they're no fun. What about it, Solaris-Chan? Wanna join me?" Sota asked seductively. She stared him in the eye, never smiling.

"Do you want me to shout 'rapist'? Because that's what would be true of you if I went with you. Which I won't." she threatened.

"What gives you that idea?" he asked.

"Oh, please. Leggy over there is wearing the shortest skirt I've ever seen, and a top so tight I'm wondering how it's not cutting off the circulation to her torso, she looks positively slutty. And I'm not like that." she said, holding on to Kurama's arm. Kurama lost it.

"You leave _MY_ Solaris-Chan alone!" he yelled as he k.o.-ed the dude. They left, Ai crying over Sota's motionless form.  
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Aaaaand now… Please put ya hands tagetha for… THA NUNS FROM CHAPTA FOUR! (Spelling on purpose to imply accent.)

Nuns: Hey, hey, we're the nuns,

People say we're funnin' around,

But we're too busy searchin'

For lost Sister Guiniviere. -Can-Can of at least 8 nuns-

(Yeah, for lack of a better song, it's to the tune of The Monkees. Which I don't own, thank Kami-Sama.)

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At the kareoke place, Rooney treated them all to sake, Solaris drinking happily. "That girl needs AA" Hiei and Rooney sighed.

"I haven't got a problem. Besides Sota and those damn nuns…" Solaris hiccuped. Raccoon, too, had been drinking, and she was recounting the incident to Jenks, who had slept through it, and she was cursing like a sailor as she did. (A/N:Pardon the language. And I rated it PG-13 just in case this happened.)

"…So the dumb ass sonofabitch starts hittin' on us all, calling us 'such-and-such-Chan', like he thinks we're all sluts like the bitch he had with him, and she looks at us like we're fricckin' idiots, and then she stares at Solaris like she'd like nothing better than to snap her damn neck, knowing full well that we'd all be all over her ass like stink on shit. And she doesn't know that Solaris could make it to where she'd never get another guy, Solaris could kick her ass so fricckin' hard. Kurama throws a damn good right too." Raccoon recounted as Jenks sipped sake as well. Then Raccoon got to her feet to find a better place to rest, and tripped over Hiei. "Hey there. Kiss me," she said, then promptly kissed Hiei on the lips. He was shocked, then she got up, only to fall over again. Day sighed.

"I'll carry her back to the hotel. Jenks, you hang here with Solaris." she sighed as she hauled the sleeping fox/dog demon onto her back. "And no worries, if Sota messes with us, I'll kick him where it hurts." she smiled jauntily as she left for the nearby hotel. Hiei touched his lips in shock.

"She just kissed me. Is this a dream or a nightmare?" he asked.

"It's a nightmare in the conscious world. Solaris is as drunk as you can get without dying." Kurama sighed. "She's going to be sick.

Soon it was time to return to the hotel, so Solaris took one last drink and they left. It wasn't long before she was by the curb, holding her stomach. "I'm gonna heave… Last time I drink that much…" she moaned. Everyone turned away as she retched.

"Solaris, you want me to carry you?" Kurama asked, biting back a _No, it won't be the last time, you'll always drink too much, it's one of the facts of knowing you._ She nodded weakly. "Go on, you guys, we'll be there soon." he said Jenks fluttered to the curb. A few minutes later, Kurama picked Solaris up bridal style, and Jenks rested on her stomach, and promptly passed out. Solaris leaned closer to Kurama.

"You smell nice." she mumbled, a faint blush in her face.

"Thanks. Just rest, Solaris." he said softly. She obeyed, and when they reached the hotel, he brought her into what was supposed to be her room, only to see Day.

"Hey, take her to your room, okay? Hiei's with Foxglove. Recall, after Raccoon kissed him, Foxglove started drinking even more than Solaris. None of them will remember much of this. And before you ask, Rooney's room is on floor 7. She'd have helped us watch, but I told her it'd be all right." Day said, then picked Jenks up off of Solaris's stomach. Kurama had little choice but to take her into what was supposed to be the room the guys shared. Remembering her love of the outdoors, he laid her on Hiei's bed, which was closest to the window. She slept peacefully on, and he watched her for a while to be sure she'd be okay, before going to sleep himself.

The next morning Solaris burrowed under the blankets, which smelled nothing like her own. She had a splitting headache, and she wanted to go back to sleep. No such luck, for an unfocused figure pulled the blanket off her and handed her a small glass bottle. She downed it, then drank the glass of water handed to her by the slightly laughing figure. Kurama came into focus as her headache began to fade.

"Huh? Where the hell am I?" she asked, then groaned in pain. "And are there blinds for those windows?" Kurama stood in front of her face to block out the sun.

"You passed out after all that sake you drank last night. I'm not sure why you do that, you know you're intolerant to alcohol. And at the moment, you're in Hiei's bed. He's watching Foxglove." Kurama explained. Solaris squinched her eyes shut and hauled herself out of bed, almost falling. Kurama caught her and helped her stand up. She promptly went into the bathroom and a retching sound could be heard soon after. "Are you all right?" Kurama asked. The faucet ran and then the door opened.

"Yeah, better now. What was that nasty junk? It really helped."

"Eki-kyabe. It's supposed to work wonders for hangovers. And apparently it does." Kurama laughed. Solaris smiled weakly, then went to her room, emerging shortly after in the sky blue robe. Seeing Kurama, she smiled.

"I'm just heading to the hot springs. I can wait for you if you like." She offered. Kurama nodded and quickly changed, finding her out in the hall leaning on a wall and chomping on a kit kat bar. She offered him a piece of it, and since he hadn't eaten since the previous night, he accepted it, eating on the way to the elevator. As it descended, Solaris started to fall, a little dizzy, but Kurama caught her and held her steady. On solid ground, she walked pretty well. The two parted company at the springs, but Kurama decided to keep an eye on her, just to be sure she didn't get hurt.

Solaris swam over to the mini waterfall on the girl's side of the spring first thing. Hiding behind a few ferns, Kurama watched her climb onto a rock, the black swimsuit's belt settling. She stood under the falls, wrists crossed over her heart and head down, eyes shut against the water. The sun was rising over Kyoto, it was about six in the morning, and the sun could be seen from the waterfall. (A/N: Their rooms face east also, by the way.) The bright rays caught the droplets of water cascading over her face, and for a moment, it appeared that she was crying crystals. As she lifted her head, drops of water fell from her eyelashes. Then Solaris stepped off the rock into the shoulder high water, swam over to the nearby ferns, and pushed a few out of her way.

"Kurama, I'm fine now. You don't have to watch over me." She smiled. At his startled look, she giggled. "I noticed your hair." Kurama looked around and saw no one but himself and Solaris. Guessing that no one else would show up for a while, he pulled her into the other side of the springs.

"Come on, let's see who swims faster." he smiled. They swam off, trying unorthodox things to keep the other from winning (Kurama using a vine to catch Solaris's ankle to stop her, Solaris creating an illusion of a brick wall to stop him, for two instances) until the two ended up at the edge, tied for winner. "Not bad." Kurama laughed. Solaris smiled and blushed a bit, then hugged him. He stared at her the top of her fox eared head in shock. (A/N: She's stayed undisguised the whole time, by the way.)

"Thanks for taking care of me during that hangover. I don't know why I drank that much, other than it was good sake." she apologized. (Another A/N: Never had sake, wouldn't know. I'm only 16, for crying out loud! A minor!) Kurama smiled and hugged her in return.

"It's all right. Just don't do it again." he warned gently. Solaris nodded her agreement, then let go and dove back over the low bamboo fence.

"Let's go get breakfast." she smiled. He nodded and the two threw the robes on over their swim gear and went to the restaurant.

While the two ate, Sota and Ai walked over to the pair, Ai yawning and her hair mussy, Sota smiling as he stood by Solaris, who didn't stop eating. "Solaris-chan! Dream of me last night?" he asked.

"No, I dreamt of demonic sake bottles chasing me and attempting to get me to drink. One _did_ have your voice though. I believe I broke it." she replied, not looking up from her food.

"When will you accept that you love me? How about we go to my room, you and me and Ai…" Sota began seductively. "Or just you and me, if Ai doesn't mind. She'd probably like to get to know Kurama…" At this, Kurama got to his feet, ready to knock Sota out again, but Solaris put a hand on his arm, using the other to wipe her mouth off with her napkin.

"Don't waste your breath. I'll handle this." she said, then got to her feet and looked Sota in the eyes. "Do I look like that slut you came in with?" Solaris asked bluntly. Ai made a little 'what the hell' noise, and Solaris glared at her. "Shut up, I'll get to you in a minute." she said, then turned back to Sota. "Accept that _I am 16_, not in my 20's, and I despise you even more than I hated my old boss, who acted a helluva lot like you. I am saving myself for marriage. I happen to have someone I care for deeply, and I was having a peaceful breakfast. Now go screw your slut and leave me and Kurama the hell alone, you worthless waste of oxygen and flesh." she said simply. (A/N: Well, if I don't have to up the rating on this fic because of her little outburst…) Sota's response was to laugh and grab her waist.

"I like 'em spunky…" he said as he kissed her on the lips. Solaris looked enraged and kneed him where it hurt worst. He broke away and fell to the floor, in severe pain. Ai rushed at Solaris, and Solaris simply hit her in the face.

"And _you_, bitch, don't hit on Kurama." Solaris glared, then sat back down to eat. "Worthless wastes of oxygen and space, the both of 'em." she mumbled as she finished eating her pancakes. Kurama stared at her in shock until she looked up. "What?"

"Nothing, just… I've never heard you talk like that before."

"Yeah, I was learning how to use my extensive vocabulary to scare people just before we decided to take this road trip." Solaris smiled. "Failed, but I feel better. That guy is like a ningen Joshi…" she laughed. Kurama laughed nervously in return, then started eating again. "Just when you think you've met the dumbest person in Ningenkai, that being Kuwabaka, someone dumber comes along. Sota makes him seem like Einstein." Solaris sighed, eliciting a true laugh from her breakfast companion.  
---------------------------------  
Solaris: Sorry for the long chapter. Took 9 pieces of paper, front and back. And Sota tones it down a little in chapter 10, I promise. He's still a pain in the butt, but he's not as bad. Also, Gomen Nasai for all the gushy moments between Solaris and Kurama. It's not so bad in future chapters, I swear.


	10. Days of Kyoto!

Road Trip: Chapter 10: 4 days to go 

Solaris: This chapter is pretty short, and I hope it's good. I wrote it in a hurry to get something accomplished on this story. So here's chapter 10, hope you like!

* * *

Solaris was in the first floor restaurant, eating lunch with Jenks. Breaking every rule perhaps, but Raccoon was asleep, Day and Foxglove were in the water park, and lord only knew where Kurama and Hiei were. She was hungry, and Jenks was with her! Oh, perhaps I should explain how exactly she was breaking rules…

* * *

EARLIER THAT MORNING… 

"In light of the Sota crisis, I believe we should take some precautions." Day stated to the group gathered in the room. Solaris turned to Raccoon.

"I thought you were supposed to lose precautions to an extent on vacations," Solaris remarked.

"Hey, smartie, you're the one in the most danger from him!" Foxglove said angrily.

"You obviously did _not_ hear her tell him to go 'screw his slut' and leave us 'the hell alone'." Kurama laughed.

"Someday the lassies' vocabulary isn' goin'ta do th' trick, an' she's goin'ta be sorry." Jenks piped up solemnly.

"The pixy has a point." Hiei agreed. "Someday Sota is going to get sick of her refusals, and he's going to just take her off somewhere. Then Solaris will be a different fox demon."

"What 'precautions' do you propose?" Rooney asked.

"First, none of us girls go _anywhere_ without another person. Second, treat Sota like a shark. If he comes near you, hit him in the nose, between the eyes, or kick him in the groin." Day shrugged.

"Uh, I don't think sharks have groins, exactly." Raccoon pointed out. (A/N: I'm sure you like the knowledge of shark anatomy… Sorry!)

"Well, act like he's a shark with one!" Day sighed. "Third, if you need food, get room service. And Solaris, since you're the one in the most danger, _always_ have one of the guys go _anywhere_ with you. Well, except some places." Day cautioned.

"What makes you the expert?" Solaris asked.

"I am the 17 year old, for human purposes, I am the eldest on this trip, with more life experience. Do you understand? And accept the rules?" Day asked.

"Yes'm." Solaris nodded, crossing her fingers behind her back.

* * *

"Are y'sure we can do this? I seem ta r'call a rule statin' we cannae get food here." Jenks cautioned from Solaris's purse. Solaris slipped him some food. 

"Don't worry, Sota isn't likely to come in here just yet. I saw him putting the moves on a desk clerk." Solaris smiled. "Besides, I'm almost done with lunch."

"If yer sure…"

"I am." Solaris nodded as she finished and paid. As they snuck back to the elevator, Sota saw her.

"Solaris-Chan!" he called.

"Urk!" was her audible reply.

"My love, have you lunched yet?" he asked.

"Yes, although now that I've seen you I get the urge to heave. Go pay some attention to your slut already, she's jealous. Hey, don't be jealous 'cause I can choose the good guys!" Solaris called in smug triumph.

"I'll just console myself that you couldn't get any other guy, little girl!" Ai yelled back, pointing to Solaris's shirt. Solaris looked down, figuring out the obvious insult.

"Shut up! If I gave a damn about that, you'd know! And I don't!" Solaris called back. "Now back the hell off, Sota."

"But I can fix the…" he began.

"I don't want help with that, dumbass. Guys should stare at my face and like me for my intelligence." Solaris said as she got on the elevator.

"Love th' terminology, lass." Jenks said sarcastically.

"So did I. He forced me to it though. And not a word of this to anyone." Solaris cautioned.

"Oh, b'lieve me, I have no desire ta talk 'bout what ya tol' that boy."

No one found out about her lunch encounter and later that night they all went to the water park. Solaris had her black bikini, Day had her azure suit, Raccoon had a black suit much like her other but without the cuts in the side, Rooney had a blue suit much like Day's, and the boys just had their regular swim trunks on.

At the park, Solaris headed straight for the tubing ride. Kurama followed while the other girls dragged off Hiei to the water slide. Solaris was having a blast with the tubing thing, and finally Kurama decided to try. He got in line before Solaris, and obviously splashed down before her. This time's descent was different; Solaris's tube hit something and flipped her into the water. Solaris merely emerged triumphant and happy.

"Boo-YAH!" she cried, not noticing long slim fingers pull the tie at the back of her neck that held her top up. She half jumped, and Kurama closed his eyes tightly and blushed as soon as she stopped. "What?" Solaris asked, then looked down. Several things happened very rapidly after that. First, Solaris screamed. Second, she splashed her torso underwater faster than the eye could see, and third, Kurama opened his eyes to see Ai. The silvery-haired girl's laugh drew Solaris's attention, and the fox girl let fly a string of obscenities the likes of which the world had never heard (quite literally in some cases; a few words she used were from an obscure Makaian dialect.).

"There are children here, watch your language." Ai chided laughingly. "And have some decency."

Like half of them won't hear this shit sometime in their lives or see this kind of shit eventually! Kurama, could you tie this string in a tight knot? I have a bitch to maul." she growled. Kurama tied it, but held her back.

"No, let it go. Ai, get lost already. Solaris despises Sota, if you can't tell." Kurama said. "Come on, Solaris, let's go somewhere else." Solaris said nothing, but followed him to a pool. A little later, her stomach growled.

"Kurama, I'm _starving._ Can you get me a soda or something, please?" she begged.

"Oh, all right. Stay right here, I'll be back." he said as he climbed from the pool. Only then did he realize how remote the pool was.

Solaris floated on her back a while, then heard a familiar, suave voice. "Solaris-Chan!"

"SCRAM, asshole. Have I not made it clear that I want you to leave me _alone_?" Solaris scowled. "Hey, where's superbitch?"

"Off hitting on Kurama, no doubt. Meaning I have you all to myself…" he drawled. Only then did Solaris realize that she was in deep trouble.

* * *

"Get _lost_, Ai, I've got to get back to Solaris!" Kurama said, trying to ditch the giggling girl on his tail. 

"But she's so… immature. How could you like a scrawny little thing like her?" Ai pouted.

"She may be a 'scrawny little thing', but she's my 'scrawny little thing'. Plus she's not pressuring me to fall in love with her," he said.

"But by the time you get to her, Sota will have her!" Ai scowled.

"WHAT?!" Kurama yelled, dropped the soda can, and ran away.

* * *

Sota was swimming after Solaris, and even using her tail for extra propulsion, he was gaining on her. He seemed supernaturally speedy. Suddenly, his hands were around her ankle. There was only one way to lose him, and Solaris took it. She dove down to about 9 feet. The pressure was tough on her, but Sota didn't seem to care. She lashed out with her other foot, and he caught it easily. 

_-Now I've got him! He can't block my punches now!-_ she thought, and lashed out again. It missed somehow; no, went _through_ him! She had a hard time believing she had imagined _that_! He pulled her back to the surface and held her gasping form tightly, he wasn't even out of breath!

"Such a ferocious beauty. Too bad you needed air." Sota smiled, and brought his mouth to hers. She kneed him in the groin, and he let her go, but had her again soon.

"Release my vixen." came Kurama's voice, furious. Sota spun the helpless fox girl around to face Kurama, pinned her hands behind her back, and put an arm around her neck.

"Leave us alone, or your little girlfriend here gets a one way trip to a watery grave. It'd pain me to do it, but I will if I must!" Sota said evilly.

"She's not my girlfriend." Kurama said viciously. Solaris used that time to kick Sota in the shins and escape. Kurama's fury made it a good time for Youko to take control, at least of the human body, and he dive-bombed Sota. Literally. The unconscious idiot soon laid floating on the water's surface, and Solaris and Kurama walked away.

* * *

Solaris walked ahead of Kurama, not wanting him to see her shame that the incident had occurred. Kurama walked over to her and said quietly, "I only did that because I love you." 

"I love you too!" Solaris cried in joy, and the two shared a kiss… NOT! That ain't happening in this story, but this will:

* * *

The two returned to Solaris and Raccoon's room, and as they sat down to wait for the rest of the group, Solaris gingerly rubbed her throat. 

"Did he hurt you?" Kurama asked.

"Nothing I can't get over. But something's odd though." she began at the precise moment that everyone else burst in. Foxglove noticed Solaris, and Rooney noticed her throat.

"What happened to you?" both asked simultaneously. Solaris sighed and recounted the fight.

"…Then Kurama kicked the fool's ass. Something strikes me as strange though." Solaris mused.

"What?" came the mass reply. Solaris's face took on a thoughtful look.

"Foxglove, I'm the fastest swimmer at home, aren't I?"

"Yeah." Foxglove nodded, and Hiei and Kurama nodded in agreement. The fox girl took to water like a fish.

"He out swam me. And the pressure at nine feet didn't even faze him." Solaris said, hating to admit it.

"It could just be good training." Rooney pointed out.

"Is this? We surfaced about 3 or 4 minutes after I dove and we fought, and he didn't even seem out of breath at all. I was gasping. And my punches… One went right _through_ his face." Solaris intoned ominously.

"You didn't…" Day began.

"No, it was _not_ just my imagination. It went _through_ his _face_." Solaris shook her head. "I have a feeling our Sota-Baka is no ordinary ningen at all."

* * *

Solaris: Oooh…. Cliffie! Fun fun! 

Foxglove: You shouldn't torture the readers like that.

Rooney: Technically it's not torture, it's suspense.

Day: But I'd think they'd hate waiting to see…

Raccoon: Read and review, please!


	11. Ninjas and insanity, and three more days...

Road Trip, YYH Style!

Chapter 11: Ninjas and Insanity, and Three Days to Go…

Solaris: Roses are red, violets are blue,  
Flowers will die, and we will to.  
But before I die, something you should know:  
I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.  
If you sue, all you will get  
Will be a dime and a micropet.

* * *

Solaris's hands clicked rapidly on the laptop's keyboard. She hadn't pulled that thing out the whole trip, and now she was online, searching for something… but what?

"Solaris, what are you doing?" Kurama finally asked.

"Yeah, you've been on that thing all evening." Raccoon added.

"What are you doing?" Day reiterated. Foxglove, Rooney, Hiei and Jenks all breathed a sigh of relief when she turned to answer; finally, a reprieve from the clicking.

"You remember that ninja movie that was on when we got back from the water park?" Solaris asked.

"You mean the one Foxglove found after you told us that Sota wasn't an ordinary ningen?" Rooney asked, trying to figure out what that had to do with anything.

"I get it! You're searching for information on anything that can hold it's breath for long times and not be fazed by pressure!" Foxglove cried. Hiei and Jenks popped her across the skull.

"Guess again, muse!" Hiei sighed.

"It has nothing to do with Sota. It's more of a… ninja question." Solaris explained.

"A ninja question?" asked Jenks.

"Yeah. I watched all those high kicks and jumps and things they did in the action scenes of the movie, and I got to wondering…" she trailed off.

"Yeah?" Kurama asked, thinking she was going to ask if anyone else saw the wires. Hey, there was no way those guys could rise into the air that slow and hang there while everyone else was moving at normal speed!

"Why don't ninjas ever complain of wedgies?" she asked, ignoring the mass face fall. "I mean, you'd think all those high kicks… and stunts… you'd think at least one ninja would complain of a wedgie _sometime_."

"Maybe they can't get wedgies. Maybe it's a ninja concentration trick thing." Foxglove suggested.

"Nah, they're focusing on kicking their opponent's ass in style or secret. Or both." Solaris shook her head.

"Maybe they can't get wedgies." Foxglove insisted.

"We just went over this, my dear muse." Solaris sighed.

"No, I mean maybe they can't get wedgies because there's nothing _to_ wedge." Foxglove said, staring at Solaris, who was staring back.

"You mean…" Solaris gasped.

"Yes, I mean…" Foxglove nodded.

"WHAT!" everyone else yelled; it wasn't their fault they weren't in on this twin/muse thing.

"Ninjas…" Solaris began.

"Go…" Foxglove added.

"Commando!" Both cried simultaneously. Then Solaris shook her head.

"Wait, wait, wait… I don't think they'd do that. What if those funky ninja suits tore down there? Wouldn't that be embarrassing?" Solaris asked.

"Ninjas don't give a damn! They're too busy fighting, and besides, they don't get embarrassed." Foxglove asserted.

"Hey, anyone can be embarrassed." Solaris shrugged.

"Except ninjas! Besides, I think those suits are super tough. So they can't be torn so no one ever sees a ninja's underclothes." Foxglove said.

"Or lack thereof." Solaris said in return. The two bickered back and forth in this strain for a while, then reached a mutual decision.

"Let's find a ninja to strip!" both declared.

"NANI!" was the mass reply.

"We're going to go strip a ninja. Laters!" both smiled as they headed for the door. Kurama and Hiei stopped them by grabbing the backs of the foxgirl's shirts.

"No, no ninja stripping at 11 o'clock at night." Kurama said sternly.

"Tomorrow can we go find a ninja to strip?" Foxglove asked.

"NO! Not now, nor will you ever strip a ninja!" Hiei shouted.

"But we're curious!" Solaris pleaded.

"Curiosity killed the cat." Raccoon quoted.

"Lucky for us we aren't cats." Solaris smiled.

"It didn't do wonders for foxes either." Day assured them.

"All right, we won't find a ninja to strip. But if we see one on the street, we can't make any promises!" Foxglove said.

"It's late. Let's turn in." Day suggested. All but Raccoon and Solaris left the room.

Just before Solaris fell asleep, she had to ask Raccoon something: "Did it hurt to get your ears pierced? I mean, my ningen form has pierced ears, but I was asleep when that happened."

"Not really. Incidentally, why were you asleep?" Raccoon asked.

"Some dolt in my theater company decided I'd look cuter as a ningen with pierced ears, so he called me out in my ningen form, knocked me out and pierced my ears. I beat him to a pulp when I woke up, and then, 5 or 6 years later, he decided to try the same trick again for a second set. And the results were repeated. But I only wear one of the second set in my right ear." Solaris explained sleepily, then passed out.  
-  
The next day, Rooney had promised to take them out around Kyoto. Solaris and Foxglove were excited. But they couldn't get one thing off their minds…

"Do you know where we could find a ninja?" the two girls asked everyone they could. Only a brave (or stupid) few dared ask why, to receive the smiled answer "So we can strip 'em!" That generally drove them away.

"What is it, mating season? Trying to find someone better at sneaking around than you?" Hiei asked.

"Hey, do you want a repeat of the haunted hotel? Y'know, chapter six?" Solaris asked, holding a crowbar threateningly. "Besides, I'm an actress at heart, everything I do is over the top. Foxglove… well, I could say she's as klutzy as I am, but I'll just say she's protective."

"And for your information, it is not mating season." Foxglove said. "Or I'd be all over you like white on rice."

"I hope you mean hitting on him. I just got some bad images…" Raccoon said, shaking her head.

"She did." Solaris nodded. "And I think I got the same images."

They kept walking until they reached a small café, where Solaris and Foxglove stopped asking the ninja question for a while.

"How many more days of this hell do I have to deal with, Kurama?" Hiei asked.

"Just three, not counting the return trip." Kurama sighed.

"That is going to be a long three days…" Hiei replied. Solaris glanced over at another table, then tapped Foxglove on the shoulder.

"Let's ask her." Solaris suggested, pointing at a girl with long brown hair who was wearing a black shirt with a screen print of Inuyasha on it, baggy jeans, and sneakers despite the heat.

"What makes you think she'll know?" Rooney asked.

"She's got a guitar case, a suitcase, little music note earrings, and anime. How could she not know?" Foxglove noted, as if her twisted reasoning was perfectly logical. "Besides, she doesn't look like she'd run off screaming that we're crazy."

"Like the last 500 people we've asked." Solaris said as they got up. "Excuse me!" she called as they walked over. The girl looked up.

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Whoa, you look like Avril Lavigne!" Foxglove smiled. Solaris elbowed her muse.

"I get that a lot. But I'm sure that's not why you came over here." the girl said.

"It's not, my muse is easily sidetracked. We just came to ask if you'd know where to find a ninja." Solaris laughed.

"I'd guess at a dojo. Why?" the girl blinked.

"We're gonna strip 'em to see if ninjas wear underwear or not." Foxglove shrugged as if it were a perfectly rational thing to wonder.

"I'll join you, now I'm curious." the girl said.

"Great! By the way, I'm Solaris Moon, and this is Foxglove Adiea." Solaris smiled, pointing to the appropriate people.

"I'm Melody Tachusa Mackenzie Takenchi Miriko Takiashi." the girl said in one breath.

"Don't hesitate to call." Foxglove muttered.

"Let's stick to first names, shall we? Now let's go strip that ninja!" Solaris smiled. This time all three girls were held back by Hiei, Kurama and Rooney.

"Didn't we say 'no ninja stripping'?" Kurama asked.

"Oh, Melody, these are our friends. The red head is Kurama, the spiky haired goth-esque guy is Hiei, the one with the blue fox ears is Day, the one with the pierced dog ears is Raccoon, and the one holding you back is Rooney." Solaris introduced. "Guys, this is Melody." The captors released the captives.

"What brings you here, Melody?" Rooney asked.

"A wandering soul, a restless heart, itchy feet. Call it what you want, what matters is that I'm here." She smiled. "Just got here today and I don't intend to stay long. I'm headed for Tokyo."

"What a coinky-dink! That's where Kurama, Hiei, Solaris, and myself live!" Foxglove smiled.

"In fact, if you don't mind waiting three more days, we'll take you there ourselves." Solaris offered. "We're on a road trip."

"Hell yeah we are! We took the damned scenic route!" Hiei yelled as he stared at a map. Solaris pulled a small lighter from her purse and set fire to the map.

"We dun need no stinkin' map!" she said in a thick, fake accent.

"Why are you carrying a lighter? You don't smoke." Kurama said.

"I might and you might not know it." Solaris teased.

"I'd smell the smoke." Kurama pointed out, scowling.

"…Good point, moving right along! What do you say, Melody?" Solaris smiled.

"Sure, what've I got to lose?" she shrugged, missing Hiei's sarcastic 'only your sanity…' remark. The group set off through Kyoto again.  
-  
That night, it was decided that Melody would stay in the same room as Solaris and Raccoon, for the simple fact that Solaris had offered. Solaris was pouting about the ninja question and it's lack of an answer as Melody sat on the couch, tuning a black electric guitar with an anhk on it. Solaris headed to the room to change to her pajamas just as Raccoon entered the room. Suddenly, Solaris's shriek of terror rang throughout the room. The other two girls ran to the doorway to see exactly why Solaris had screamed: Sota was lying on the bed, a rose clenched between his teeth.

"How the HELL did you get into the room!" Solaris shrieked. He just smiled coyly.

"Who is this fool?" Melody asked.

"Sota. From what I know, he ranks right up with Solaris's old boss, the nuns who tried to kidnap her, and country music." Raccoon explained.

"_Nuns_?" Melody asked incredulously.

"She'll explain later if you ask." Raccoon sighed.

"Sota, several things must be cleared up right now: I hate you with all my heart; persistence is getting you nowhere except a one way ticket to hell; going shirtless is only sexy on a finely-toned body that isn't gleaming from fake tan, and you aren't sexy to begin with. I can only think of one guy I'd like to see like that, and I don't have to worry about it, since he won't. Now…" she growled and hauled him out of the room by one ear, "GET OUT AND LEAVE ME ALONE, NUMBSKULL!"

"So that's Sota…" Melody blinked. "Persistent little idiot, eh?"

"Yeah. Now I am getting ready for bed." Solaris said between clenched teeth, trying to calm down.  
-  
Later that night, Solaris woke up from a dream about the water park incident and couldn't go back to sleep. She left the room to see if another ninja movie was on when she saw Melody at the door. "Hey, what's up? Don't tell me you're going out in your pajamas." Solaris said, pointing at the red tank top and baggy red pajama pants, smiling at the whimsical penguin and snowflake pattern.

"Are you a guard dog or something?" Melody asked.

"No guard dog, try fox. Demon fox." Solaris smiled.

"Ah. You make no effort to hide the ears and tail?"

"Not unless I'm in Tokyo, where I know a lot of ningens who know me as a ningen."

"I see. Well, yeah, I did intend to go out." Melody admitted.

"If it's okay, I'll go with. I can't sleep." Solaris smiled nervously.

"Sure, fine by me. One girl in pajamas prowling a hotel is ridiculous, two and no one cares." Melody shrugged. The two girls set off prowling the pretty-well-abandoned hotel. Solaris noticed an 'employees only' sign on a door.

"Hey, that looks intriguing. Let's check it out." Apparently Melody had noticed it too.

"You don't think they'll hear our footsteps?" Solaris asked.

"Looks like the carpet continues down the hall, and even if it doesn't, we have house shoes. No one will hear us." Melody said, then tried the door. "It's locked."

"I can handle that!" Solaris smiled and pulled a paperclip out of nowhere. Soon the door was standing open. "First floor, sporting goods, cleaning supplies, hotel stuff." They entered the back halls of the hotel, the darkness closing in as the door shut.

"Now it's my turn. Can you pull anything out of nowhere?" Melody asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I need a candle." Melody said. Solaris pulled a candle and candle holder from nowhere, wondering why not a flashlight. "Great." Melody said as she felt the cold metal candleholder in her hand. Suddenly two lights appeared: one was the candle, the other was a small flame at the tip of Melody's finger. "Good silver." She examined the candleholder appreciatively.

"Thanks, 30th birthday present. Wait, you have fire powers?" Solaris questioned in a whisper.

"Yeah… Wait, _30th_! You only look 16, how old are you anyway?" Melody asked in shock.

"148, 149 in May." Solaris answered. "Just keep the age thing a secret. Only a few people know how old I am, and I don't want to get thrown in the looney bin. Even Reikai prison would be a good alternative."

"I will if you'll do the same about my fire powers." Melody nodded.

"Deal. I'm 16, and you don't have fire powers." Solaris smiled. "Now let's get to exploring, shall we?"

The two wandered around the labyrinth of halls, up and down service elevators, until they heard another noise.

"Are you sure?" came a familiar male voice.

"Yes, I smelled her scent in here! Geesh, you are the wimpiest guy I know!" Ai's voice this time.

"Ai!" Solaris hissed.

"You know her?" Melody asked.

"I sure do, lord knows I wish I didn't. Quick, blow out that candle, hand it here, I'll try to find a flashlight, and if I can't, you can follow my aura if I go fox. Pulling off your house shoes may help too." Melody did as she was told as Solaris tried and failed to find a flashlight. Ai was getting closer.

"Oh, screw it!" Solaris said as she became a fox. –_Follow me.-_ She said through telepathy. Melody nodded and followed the dark light of Solaris's aura.

"Ai, you didn't have to say that…" the guy whined.

"Good God, why'd I run away with you! You're a wuss, you aren't the brightest thing in the world, and you hit on other girls…" Ai hissed.

"I'm cute and you love me." The guy had a smile in his voice.

"Sota, I'll give you the cute thing, but I don't love you or I wouldn't be contemplating leaving you in this stinking human-infested hell!" Ai growled.

_-Ooh, trouble in paradise…-_ Solaris commented.

"I smell her! Down this hall!" Ai cried.

_-Melody, if I told you to sneak away, forget it. Run like the hounds of hell are on your heels!-_ Solaris said.

"I have a better idea. C'mon!" Melody whispered, then lifted the kitsune from the ground and ran.

"She became a fox! And I smell something else…" Ai growled.

"Human?" Sota asked.

"No, definitely _not_ human. More fiery, charcoal-y, sorta singed, and yet, classy. Sorta like… roast royalty." Ai said.

"Oh, I read about that in a rare treats magazine. Is it any good?" Sota asked.

_-They eat humans? Yech! I'll take hamburger over human any day. And chocolate chip pizza over hamburger.-_ Solaris said in her mind.

"Hm… pretty tasty. Depends on how you like them: Singed, well done, or burnt to a crisp. I personally like mine well done. But it's a real delicacy now. Pity it's not still the feudal era." Ai mused.

_-Uh, Melody, I'd love to hear your great idea!-_ Solaris panicked.

"Simple: we hide in something that covers our scent." Melody whispered.

_-How? It's not like we'll just find a laundry basket full of towels or something!-_ Solaris cried. Just then, Melody stopped in front of a basket of old towels. _–Then again, we could just have the devil's luck on our side.- _Solaris said. The fox and the girl dove right into the basket, Melody covered them with just enough of a space so that they could breathe and see, but not be seen. Ai came up just then, but she looked different. Two black cat ears stuck up from her head, and she had a black cat's tail. Her nose looked a little snubbed and slightly pink. Sota looked the same as normal.

"I smell her up to here, but then the scent is…gone. All I smell now are old towels, ugh!" Ai said in disgust. "Nasty!"

_-How ironic. That's just how I feel about their eating habits.-_ Solaris quipped. Melody stifled a laugh.

"Darn it… I wanted her _tonight_." Sota mourned.

"Oh, shut up, you big baby! You'll have her soon enough. Though why you want her is beyond me…" Ai growled.

"I've never had a kitsune before." Sota explained. Ai growled and hit the laundry basket.

"Dammit, stop whining! You'll have your chance. In the meantime, let's go back to bed. Damn alarm going off… stupid security officers… made me break a nail…" Ai groused.

"Poor darling…" Sota murmured as they left, once again the suave gentleman. The two girls waited until a little bit after the footsteps faded, then they climbed out and Solaris returned to her normal self.

"_Roast royalty?_ Jeez, and I thought Kuwabara was gross!" Solaris griped.

"Didn't know I smelled like that. That's… disturbing." Melody said, as if she were thinking aloud.

"You're a princess, aren't you? The scent was of royal blood, wasn't it?" Solaris asked.

"I'd appreciate that being kept a secret." Melody sighed.

"Sure. By the way, this _never_ happened." Solaris said in a tone that implied that no one needed to know about this.

"Deal." Melody nodded. When they got back to the room, Solaris quickly found the alarm attached to the door facing and smashed it.

"Stupid spying wise-ass little cat demon… and that Sota… may they both die and rot in the deepest pit of the Makai." Solaris declared, then muttered, "And the ninjas for not somehow answering my question."

"You still wonder about that ninja thing?" Melody asked.

"Hell yeah I do! I'm calling a psychic hotline, psychics know everything." Solaris declared and pulled out a phone book and her cell phone. Soon she had dialed a number and began to speak. "Yes, I have a question: Do ninjas wear underwear or not? ...No, this is _not _a prank call!… Listen, lady, d'ya know or not!… You do? Great! Hold on a second!" Solaris cheered. She held the phone away from her ear and turned the volume on it up. "Okay, talk to me." Just then Foxglove entered the room.

"Could hear you yell across through the wall. Is that a psychic hotline about to answer the ninja question?" Foxglove asked. When she saw the nod, she joined the other two girls.

_-I See… I see a ninja, and he is wearing… Oh! It can't be!- _the psychic gasped.

"What! What can't it be!" all three gasped.

_-I see…An 'image not found' sign!- _The face fall shook the whole floor, but luckily didn't wake anyone.

"ARE YOU SEARCHING THE NET!" all three girls cried in fury.

_-Maybe.-_ the psychic answered. The only one who took any action was Solaris, who in a fury ended the call.

"You Suck Raw Eggs." She scowled as she put the phone back in her suitcase.

"It's beginning to look like we'll never know the answer to our question." Foxglove sighed.

"Well, not tonight anyhow. Tomorrow we'll find a dojo and a ninja to strip. Oyasumi Nasai!" she yawned as she headed for the couch. The other two foxgirls shrugged and headed their separate ways.

* * *

Solaris: staring at a cell phone bill Holy… So that's why it was so high. Stupid psychic hotline…

Kurama: You brought it on yourself. I thought you'd seen ads for them before. At 3 bucks a minute…

Foxglove: And the lesson today is that no matter who provides your cell phone service, be it some big company like Cingular or Tracfone that you pay each month or whenever you buy minutes, or you get your service paid for from a budget in your name in the Reikai, psychic hotlines are still a rip off.


	12. Two Days Left

Road Trip!

Chapter 12: An answer and 2 days to go!

Solaris: Let's see… Several things. _First,_ sorry for my lack of updates. I'm a lame-o who got my ass kicked off the net for the remainder of the 9 weeks for my crappy grades, and was only truly redeemed by making a 98 on my Geometry semester final, one of the few high grades I've ever had in that class. _Second_, I suffered extreme writer's block on this chapter and couldn't get started on writing the hard copy of chapter 13 until I got back online and printed off a couple of character sheets. Said characters will appear in chapter 13, so brace yourself for more insanity. _Third, _I have an ACT prep school to go to in the mornings to prepare for the June 11 ACT, so I can't pull the same tricks I pulled last summer and write all day. I'll have something to say about the ACT crap at the end. Plus I'm looking for a job. _Finally,_ (This has to be one of the longest authoress notes I've ever written/typed/whatever.) I've had a few familial problems. A Great-Aunt of mine who has been in the hospital since last year finally died, which is sorta good because now she's not in pain, but it's also sorta bad 'cause I had to sing for the funeral. With funerals, I tend to get really depressed for a few days afterwards and not do much. That includes writing. So, in conclusion to this awful excuse… **Bows deeply** Gomen Nasai! DON'T KILL ME!

Foxglove: Uhm, standard disclaimers apply. Pardon the drama queen there.

* * *

"**WAKEY WAKEY!" **Raccoon yelled, right into Solaris's left ear. It was effective, to say the least.

"OW! Dammit, was that truly necessary!" Solaris yelled right back, holding her left ear down to try and stop the ringing therein.

"Yes. Wake Melody up." Raccoon demanded. "I'm going to get breakfast." With that, Raccoon headed out the door. Solaris sighed and hauled herself out of the bed.

"C'mon, princess, wake up time." Solaris said, tapping the girl snoozing on the couch.

"Nah, cheify, dun wanna wakey. No school today…" Melody slurred sleepily. Solaris sweatdropped, scowled, then unceremoniously pushed the girl off the couch, yelling the whole time.

"Wakey Wakey, eggs and bakey! Or whatever Raccoon orders for breakfast!" Suddenly a very pissed-looking Melody popped up from the floor.

"Dammit! I'm tired!" she shrieked. Something about her was different…

"AH! Kitsune!" Solaris yelped in shock, leaping backwards from the orange tailed and eared foxgirl in front of her. (A/N: Think Tails of Sonic fame and you have the color.)

"And you are! Mine only pop up when I'm mad or startled though." Melody said, more calmly than before. Just as suddenly as the ears and tail had appeared, they vanished.

"That brings the fox total up to five. Six, if you want to count Kurama. We are a veritable pack." Solaris sighed.

"No joke." Foxglove nodded. "No worries, I know when to shut my yap." She smiled as she saw Melody's startled look.

"No you don't." Solaris said.

"Shut up, Sol-Sol." Foxglove grinned.

"Bite my fluffy fox tail, 'Sis'." Solaris grinned back, swishing said appendage. "So, are we going to a dojo today?"

"You bet! Time to strip that ninja!" Foxglove laughed.

"As soon as I'm dressed." Melody said, then picked up a suitcase and went into the other room.

"She's got a point. And what about breakfast?" Solaris asked.

"Oh, yeah. We'll need our energy if we intend to go strip a ninja." Foxglove conceded just as Melody re-entered the room in baggy black jeans, black sneakers, and a t-shirt with a picture of Dark Magician Girl of Yu-Gi-Oh! fame on it. Solaris looked ready to yell a totally random thing, but that ended when Raccoon burst into the room with a cart piled high with food.

"Breakfast! Pancakes, soda, orange juice, waffles, fried eggs, whatever you want!" she called. "Kurama and the others are coming over here soon."

"Huh? What's with all th' c'motion? 'Twas sleepin' time last I checked." Jenks said sleepily. He blinked his pearl gray eyes a bit and tried to smooth down his hair.

"Sorry, Jenks." Raccoon laughed as the little pixy blinked and tried his hardest to look awake. Solaris, Foxglove, and Melody grabbed plates, food, drinks, and went into the other room.

"Conference time, don't disturb, if you please." Solaris said. Kurama, along with Hiei and Day, entered just in time to see the three girls exit the main room.

"What was that about?" Kurama asked in shock.

"Beats me." Raccoon shrugged, repositioning the Almighty Pencil of Doominess.

**MEANWHILE…**

"Okay, so Solaris baits 'em, and we get 'em from behind," Foxglove said to Melody.

"How can Solaris bait a ninja? And didn't Hiei say you two couldn't sneak around very well?" Melody pointed out, blushing faintly as she said his name. Foxglove either didn't notice or chose not to say anything (knowing Foxglove's obsession, she prolly didn't notice.)

"She's got admirers in both worlds. A ningen boy named Mitsuo has the hots for her, and Sota… well, we're not sure what he is. And our old boss liked her a _lot_." Foxglove said, ignoring Solaris's protests of 'Mitsuo's a skirt-chaser', 'Sota's a playa', and 'he liked you too!' "All she'd have to do us wear a dress and leave her hair loose. Maybe gloss and mascara, but that's it."

"Uhm, I don't have any dresses, save that white one. I think I have my denim skirt and that one lilac blouse." Solaris said.

"Those will do. So do we have a plan?" Melody asked.

"You bet!" nodded the foxgirls.

"But how do we get past the cops without arousing suspicion?" Solaris asked, referring to Kurama, Hiei, Day, Rooney, Raccoon, and (though he probably couldn't have cared less) Jenks.

"Sudden visit to the infirmary?" Melody suggested.

"Sounds good." Solaris nodded.

"Solaris hurt her ankle?" Foxglove pitched in.

"Has been known to happen." Solaris nodded, then at the 'sounds like a plan to me' nods from the other two girls in the room, she went to the closet to change.

Everyone else (Rooney had just joined them) was out in the front room eating, when a shriek of pain caught their attention. Melody and Foxglove rushed out, half carrying Solaris.

"Move please! Solaris hurt her ankle! Which way to the infirmary?" Melody cried, sounding panicked.

"First floor, by the gift shop. Be careful." Kurama said, beginning to worry. The three girls had rushed out before it really registered that something was fishy. Solaris had looked really cute, a little like she had tried for a change, she never tripped in heels unless they caught in the carpet, and the ones she had on were in such good condition that only well traveled areas could trip her. Plus, she never shrieked when she hurt her ankle, and certainly not in such a theatrical way. "HEY!" Kurama yelled as the rest of the group ran out after the three, but it was too late: they were on the elevator, Solaris laughing the whole time.

"Oh, great." Day sighed, pushing a strand of aqua-and-honey-blonde hair into place. "Where do you think they went?"

"Where else?" Rooney asked, sighing.

"Ninja-stripping." was the mass reply.

The three girls walked down the street, giggling occasionally. They looked for all the world like a group of teenaged girls out for a day of shopping, aside from Foxglove's and Solaris's ears and tails.

"So, to a dojo?" Melody asked.

"To a dojo!" all three cried out happily.

In no time at all they had reached a small dojo. "Okay, Solaris, stand here and look cute. Melody and I will hide." Foxglove commanded. Solaris stood there and did as Foxglove told her to while the other two prepared to wait. They didn't have to wait long.

"Miss, are you okay?" came a voice. Solaris spoke back quietly, and Foxglove and Melody pounced. It wasn't until they had tied up their supposed ninja to prevent his escape that they found out he wasn't a he after all.

"Guys, I don't think that's a ninja." Solaris said. Suddenly, the 'ninja' seemed to melt through the cords as kitsune ears and a tail appeared.

"No shit! What's your beef! Damn!" she yelled.

"We were trying to find a ninja." Foxglove said, ears lowered and betraying her scolded-child feeling.

"Why the hells do you want a goddamned ninja!"

"So we can strip them and see if they do or don't wear underwear." Melody said, suddenly feeling very silly.

"Oh, that's all? It differs for each ninja." She answered flippantly. "I've known a few. Now who are you clowns? And what, for that matter?"

"Foxglove, a muse-slash-fox demon, the girl we used as bait is Solaris, a full fox demon and my sister in a sense. I'm her muse. And that's Melody, a… well, we aren't really sure what she is yet, she's just not human." Foxglove explained.

"Now who and what are you?" Solaris asked, pride regained.

"Kara Tenshi, shadow demon with illusion and kitsune mixed in.," the girl said. "Do your parents know you're in the human world?"

"Pfft! Parents? Dad's a no-show and Mom's a bitch! Besides, at 148, we're old enough to take care of ourselves." Solaris laughed. "Do yours?"

"At 7313, I think I'm capable of living on my own. Don't let the 15-year-old face fool you." Kara scowled.

"Well, anyhow, arigatou for answering our ninja question. Would you like to join us for lunch?" Solaris asked, fairly pleasant.

"Can't. Reservations at the Sakura hotel." Kara said, the scowl fading marginally.

"Oh! That's where we're staying! How long are you here for?" Foxglove asked.

"Two days, until I leave for Tokyo."

"We live there! Well, Melody's our friendly wanderer, so she's coming back to Tokyo with us." Solaris grinned.

"Hn… Well, maybe I'll remember your names and come chat with you. _Maybe._" Kara said as she left.

"Well, she was helpful. Just so… distant." Melody noted.

"Yeah, but she answered our question, so she's cool. Now let's go get lunch and celebrate getting an answer." Foxglove suggested. So they took off.

It was almost dusk when they returned to the hotel, due to lingering over lunch and being asked to have photos taken. Most people wanted proof that they had seen what they thought were cosplayers in Kyoto.

"Do you think we'll be in trouble?" Solaris asked worriedly.

"Nah." Melody smiled.

"They think we had to go to the infirmary for Solaris's ankle. We're cool." Foxglove laughed as they reached their room. No sooner had they opened the door than they were surrounded by angry faces, Kurama's being the first such face, and by far the most furious.

"Uhm, hi? I don't suppose 'we got lost' will work?" Solaris asked, ears flat on her skull in embarrassment.

"Oh, no, it won't." Kurama said, his voice practically arctic.

"We thought Sota had kidnapped you, and… and… AND YOU HAD US WORRIED!" Rooney cried in a fury.

"I hope you found your damn ninja today, because after that stunt, no more!" Hiei yelled.

"Actually, we did find the answer: it varies." Foxglove smiled.

"WE DON'T CARE!" Raccoon yelled.

"Ya coulda been kill'd an' ya don' care! So long as ye get an answer to yer ninja question!" Jenks shouted.

"We're lucky someone saw you and happened to hear us talking about you three!" Day shrieked. There, on the couch, sat Kara, sipping tea calmly as if the world wasn't falling down around the three girls' ears.

"KARA!" the guilty party yelled.

"Didn't know you had roommates. Now, if you'll excuse me, Detective Conan is on." Kara replied.

"Ooh! What episode?" Solaris asked. It was a three-girl stampede to watch the show.

"Solaris…" Kurama intoned as he motioned to the door.

"Aw… But it's Mountain Villa Murder!" Solaris cried.

"You've seen it before, you'll see it again, now come on!" He gritted his teeth, frustrated with the almost-childlike demon. "I have to talk to you."

"Fine." Solaris sighed, clearly unhappy. "Tell me what happens." She followed the redheaded boy silently to the now-crowded restaurant. Kurama bought dinner and stared across the table at Solaris, even after it was delivered. She looked up at him, a weirded-out expression on her face. "What?" she finally asked.

"You could have been kidnapped, Sota could've found you, and being in a group wouldn't have helped. I doubt he'd have any objections to taking foxglove and Melody too. Did you really want an answer so bad you'd endanger your friends and family?" Kurama asked in a low voice.

"I didn't think we were in any danger. He had sensors on my door. I guess he figured that if Foxglove and I are sisters, we'd room together, and even if we didn't, he'd get one of us." She smiled, only a trace of uneasiness in her eyes. "I found and destroyed them last night. So no worries."

"If he had sensors on there, don't you think he has more? Don't you think…" Kurama hesitated to destroy her perfect dream, where all was sweet and light, and what wasn't could be solved with-if not words- then a well-placed heel. "Don't you think he'll bait it again?"

"Kura-kun, I refuse to spend my vacation in paranoia. These ningens think my ears and tail are fake, and I'm in no hurry to correct them. At least they aren't running in fear, and I'm not having to worry someone will find out that I'm a demon. Sota is a minor annoyance. A few rabbit punches to the kidneys would solve _that_ problem." Solaris smiled, hands in an open gesture on the top of the table. With only a moment's hesitation, Kurama reached over and clasped them both, staring her in the eyes.

"Solaris, he's _not ningen._ You said he swam faster than you. The speed champ at Meiou is still mad that you beat her, and that was without your tail for extra propulsion. You also said that your punches seemed to faze through him underwater, and he wasn't affected by pressure when you were." Kurama pointed out, ignoring her protests of 'but I'm a forest creature, water pressure could just faze me sooner'. "Tell me again what he said to you when you surfaced. Leave _nothing_ out."

"He said, and I quote, 'So lovely. Too bad you had to breathe.'" Solaris said. Kyoto had something in the air that made people weird, as well as a demon problem, apparently.

"Repeat the last bit."

"Too bad you had to… breathe…" Solaris said in a daze. "That's it… That's it!" She laughed. "That's it!" The rest of the diners looked at her strangely. She ceased laughing just long enough to glare at them and lace a "what?" with enough venom to kill several cobras. The diners turned back to their food. "That's it!" Solaris whispered excitedly.

"What?" Kurama had already figured it out, but Solaris was so excited that he decided to let her tell him.

"Sota's not a ningen, he's some type of water demon! It's not a kappa, I don't remember the exact type right now, but his type are known for lechery. I knew one in MAC once! Ooh… I hated that jerk…" Solaris growled, ears flat in disgust.

"Huh?" Kurama asked.

"He tried to blackmail me into a date once. Threatened to tell Joshi just who had slashed and shrunk his best suit. I told him to step off, Joshi already knew it. Plus he was always trying to touch my tail. Or more accurately, just under where my tail is attached to my spine." Solaris explained.

"Uh-huh. Ai seems preternatural also." Kurama said, switching subjects. That was one thing he did _not _want to think about.

"She's a cat demon! I know because of her scent!" Solaris smiled, tapping her nose.

"So you know all this? Let's go!" he smiled and pulled her back to the room.

As soon as Solaris had finished her explanation, Kara laughed. "God damn, but this city has one hell of a demon problem!"

"No joke. But if Sota and Ai tick me off, the world will be free of two demons." Solaris vowed.

"For now, let's just enjoy the rest of vacation. We only have a day and a half left." Rooney laughed, motioning to the window that overlooked the darkened city.

"And there's a dance tomorrow night. Break out the formals, 'cause it's party time!" Foxglove laughed, spinning in place.

"Is she always like that?" Kara asked Hiei in a whisper.

"Yes, sometimes worse. What's really bad, though, is when she cries. All hell breaks loose then." Hiei replied.

"Uh, guys? I'd love to go, but I don't think that my white dress is fancy enough." Solaris sighed.

"It'll do." Hiei and Kurama said in unison, with two different reasons: Hiei didn't want to go shopping, and Kurama actually thought it would be perfect. Kara took that opportunity to drag the unnerved foxgirl into the hall.

"How many goddamned boyfriends do you have!" Kara growled.

"None. I'm single." Solaris said, purely confused.

"Hiei knows what you have packed, Kurama took you to dinner, and you have a ningen boy in Tokyo after you!" Kara half yelled.

"Hiei helped me pack because I had to make snacks for our trip here, Kurama is the guy who rescued me in the Makai and we've been friends since, and Mitsuo, well, Mitsuo's just weird." Solaris said levelly. Suddenly, Kara began to laugh.

"That clears that right up!" she gasped in between laughs.

"Jeez, and I thought I was bipolar…" Solaris blinked.

Kurama was really having trouble sleeping. It was unusual; Solaris was the insomniac, not him! Deciding that sleep was impossible, he headed down to the first floor and the restaurant. Much to his surprise, it was open, or at least the bar was. And sitting there, drinking a strawberry soda, was Solaris. From all he could tell, she was only in the purple tunic that she used as a nightshirt sometimes. He sat by her.

"It's raining." She said quietly after some time.

"Really? I guess you're having a normal night." Kurama noted.

"Yeah. My insomnia rubbing off on you?" Solaris smiled softly.

"Only if I can blame you."

"Fine by me." She shrugged. "Hell, my mom used to blame me for the weather." Solaris earned a laugh from Kurama. He had met her mom around the end of May or the beginning of June. He could believe that Nohara would blame her eldest daughter for the weather. "Just foolin'. She blamed me for everything else, though. The day me and Foxglove left, I told her she might as well blame me for the weather."

"It's unreasonable. But then, Nohara is an unreasonable person." Kurama shrugged.

"Yeah." Solaris laughed without humor. Her eyes turned back to the vibrant red-pink of the strawberry soda. "I wanna apologize. It was a stupid thing for me to run off like that. But, well… What's the slogan of that American Tabloid? National something?" Solaris asked.

"Inquiring minds want to know. Yeah, I can understand that." He nodded. She sipped at the soda.

"Hey, have you ever had this stuff before? It's sorta fizzy, but sweet like strawberries." Solaris asked.

"Yes, I have. You've never had strawberry soda before?"

"I don't think so. This is really good. Do they sell it in Tokyo?" Solaris asked innocently. Kurama laughed and pulled her into an one-armed hug. Sometimes the little fox demon could be so innocent it was cute. It was hard to believe that she had only been in the Ningenkai for three months now. May and June had passed fast, and the end of July was rapidly approaching.

"Of course they do." He smiled. Shortly thereafter, the pair headed back to their rooms. Come the morning, Kurama wouldn't remember if it had been a dream or reality.

* * *

Solaris: Wow, one of my longer chapters. Okay, like I said, I'd have something to say about the ACT, so here goes:

This chapter was finally typed by June 6, and my ACT class had taken a practice test on the previous Friday. My composite is 28, which really isn't bad. I'm aiming for 30 or above though. Uh, lessee… **looks at a sheet of paper** My scores stand at this:

English: 31

Math: 22

Reading: 32

Science: 28

This is my first time to take the ACT, so hopefully I'll get a good scholarship-worthy grade the first try. It's all over the 11th though, so keep your fingers crossed!

Also, I have a question. I've been hooked on Gravitation lately, and I know I said I'd never write yaoi, but I guess I should never say never. What I'm driving at is… **takes a deep breath** I wrote a Gravitation fanfic, and I want to know if you people out there think I should post it. It'd be rated PG-13 at most. Please review or e-mail me and tell me what you think! Flames will be used to boil water for ramen; Foxglove's getting hungry.

Ja ne! Review please!


	13. Final day in Kyoto and Dance of Doom!

Road Trip Chapter 13: Final Day in Kyoto and the Dance of Doom!

Solaris: Catchy title, ne? At any rate, this is the beginning of the end. Yeah, maybe in 13 more chapters they'll find their way back to Tokyo. Well, standard disclaimers apply. All I own in this story is Solaris, Foxglove, Sota, Ai, and the concept of the Sakura Hotel.

* * *

"Solaris! Wake up! Sol-Sol! Sol-Sol! Sooool-Sooool!" Foxglove whined, drawing out the 'o' in Solaris's nickname as she pounded the door in the suite. Raccoon had already left for some shop. Solaris opened the door, hair mussed and tunic wrinkled from tossing and turning. She took one look at her muse and turned away. "Solaris! What are you doing!" Foxglove cried.

"Going back to bed. This is all a dream and I'm going to try to wake up. My muse would never cut her hair." Solaris said as she fell back to the bed. Foxglove stole a look at her haircut in the mirror (really, the just-below-the-shoulder length looked great!) then shook the half-asleep demon by the shoulders.

"It's not a dream! The heat and humidity here are a bitch, so I decided to cut my hair! Easier than pulling it into a ponytail every day!" Foxglove protested. "And I donated it to that Locks of Love thing, so I did some good!"

"You had 10 inches to donate?" Solaris asked. Did Locks of Love even _have_ a branch in Japan? She'd look it up later.

"Actually a little under. But it was just fine, and I'm not frying anymore." Foxglove admitted. "You should really try it."

"What, cutting my hair? No thanks. I like my hair long, and if I cut the front strands, it'd be obvious that I don't have human ears." Solaris scowled.

"Oh, Solaris, it would _not_, your hair isn't that curly. Besides, it'd be pretty."

"Foxglove," Solaris scowled as she turned to said demon/muse, "Some people have a face shape _good_ for haircuts like yours. You actually look better. But I had a picture modified once to see what I'd look like and it wasn't pretty. Now lemme sleep!"

"Can't, sorry." Solaris opened one eye to see Day. "Today's the day of the dance, remember? We all have to get ready, and Foxglove said that you were good at makeup."

"_Stage _makeup. I only did makeup for the stage because Foxglove had a tendency to put it on too heavy. I almost went out looking like a whore once." Solaris scowled.

"Hey everyone! I found someone who wants to come back to Tokyo with us!" Raccoon yelled as she entered the room.

"I got breakfast!" Melody called as she returned.

"Is anyone alive in here? If not, I'm leavin'!" Kara yelled. Solaris finally lost it.

"_WHAT_, DAMMIT! I WAS SLEEPIN' UNTIL FOXGLOVE SHOWED UP AND I WANNA GO BACK TO SLEEP!" she yelled as she burst into the main room.

"Sorry! Just found someone you should meet." Raccoon said. Solaris looked at her, or more accurately the girl next to her. She had red-tipped hair the shade of blue only found at midnight, odd eyes, and wore black jeans and a dark blue tank top. Something else besides the two-tone eyes struck Solaris though.

"Lemme guess: dragon demon?" Solaris asked. The girl nodded. She had a deep blue dragon tail (though Solaris hadn't really noticed that) and red dragon ears, holding two hoops and a ruby stud in each earlobe (if it could be called that) and a crystal stud at the top of each ear. "Sorry for my outburst, I'm not always so friendly. Solaris Moon. And you are?""

"Azurite." The girl replied.

"Cool to meet ya. Now I'm going back to sleep." Solaris said stubbornly.

"Oh no you aren't!" A girl with dark strawberry blonde hair (though it had a deep reddish tint to it) and violet eyes walked into the room. "Your little friend here just took the last waffle!"

"With all due respect, Madame… Who the hell do you think you are!" Solaris asked. She wasn't used to not being able to go back to sleep when she wanted.

"I'm Ami-Rei Pai, that's who the hell I think I am!" she yelled, planting her black flip-flops firmly into the carpet.

"Then it's nice to meet you, they've made more waffles, and if no one minds, I'M GOING BACK TO SLEEP, DAMMIT!" Solaris yelled, then made good on her words.

"She's had a hard time of it lately. This road trip hasn't been a bowl of cherries for her. She's only gotten this pissed once, and that was under duress." Foxglove explained. Ami-Rei merely shrugged and sat down.

"What ever. I'd much rather make someone's acquaintance when they're well rested," she sighed.

When Solaris woke again at 11, she was in a much better mood. "All I needed was my sleep!" she smiled over her late breakfast.

"Honestly, I've only known her for a few months; you've lived with her for 148 years and don't understand that she hates being woken up? Honestly, why do you think Mitsuo bought her that indestructible alarm clock?" Kurama asked Foxglove.

"It's not indestructible. That crowbar, y'know, the iron one? It dented the clock." Solaris said around a mouthful of pop tart.

"Manners." Rooney chided gently. Ami looked up from her nails and the file, smoothed her black skirt, and pointed with one black-tipped nail toward Azurite.

"Uh, could someone tell me exactly what that girl is doing?" The rest of the room looked toward her. Azurite had drawn what appeared to be alchemic symbols around a plate that held a chocolate chip eggo. She chanted something that no one could catch, and…

**_BLAMMO!_**

Eggo was everywhere! Solaris was screaming, Foxglove dove under the couch shouting something that sounded suspiciously like 'we're being bombed _again_!' and everyone else? Well, shock is a beautiful thing. Kurama recovered first, and pulled Solaris into a hug, effectively muffling her continuous shout. "She'll pass out eventually, but for now… What was that?" he asked.

"Darn it. I thought for sure I could make a Chocolate Chip Eggo of Doom this time." Azurite pouted. Suddenly Kurama looked down t see Solaris lapping eggo off his shirt.

"Solaris, that's disturbing," he said slowly.

"Sorry. Chocolate chips are good! You'll get it right soon, Azurite, I know it! In the meantime, let's get this and ourselves cleaned up. Kurama's got a point, my lapping waffle off his shirt _is _gross." She smiled and pulled away, getting right to work.

"Hey! My eyeliner!" Ami-Rei yelled. "You drew that-that _thing-_with my eyeliner!"

"Don't leave it out of your purse, then. Besides, it said 'kohl'." Azurite pointed out as she helped.

"Kohl is a sort of description of how it looks, not what it's made of! Sheesh, it's artificial now!" Ami-Rei shouted, getting to work.

"Ami-Chan, please calm down. Can you believe we leave tomorrow?" Solaris asked.

"The sooner we escape this looney bin, the better." Kara muttered audibly. Hiei and Foxglove nodded their agreement.

"I wouldn't go so far as to call it a looney bin." Day sighed. "Sure, it's crazy, but it's interesting."

"Day-Chan, hitchhiking to Kyoto was interesting. Staying in a psych ward of a hotel is an experience that I will never repeat." Raccoon said.

"The hotel isn't the psych ward. The psychos here are that Sota dude and that Ai chick." Rooney nodded.

"Pitch in the name 'Foxglove' and you have the majority of the insane people listed." Hiei mumbled.

"Hiei, she's not insane, and you know it." Ami said.

"She's not sane either." Solaris smiled.

"Why are we discussing sanity?" Azurite asked.

"Lack of topics, who knows? It could be worse." Kurama sighed.

"Yeah, like Solaris and the waffle…" Melody began before Kurama cut her off.

"Don't you say it!"

"Oi, less talkin', more cleanin'." Jenks pointed out. In no time they were done and had gone to clean up.

* * *

"Great, another fruit loop." Ai growled. Sota came up behind her, switched off the surveillance screen, and kissed her.

"Oh, Ai, quit watching them and play with _me._" He smiled. (A/N: Yes, I intended for it to sound that way.) Ai flexed her claws.

" Not now, darling. Lover has revenge to plot."

"You can do anything you want to anyone as long as I can keep Solaris." Sota said sternly.

"Same goes for you as long as I can keep Kurama."

"Deal."

"Glad we agree." Ai nodded.

"We… we can still play after we capture them, right?" Sota suddenly asked. Ai cupped his face in her hands.

"Yes, precious, we'll still 'play'. We'll just have other toys too." Ai purred. Sota smiled and pulled her to the bed.

"Good. Because, you know…" he said in between kisses, "They may not be as fun as we think."

"I'm sure they will be." Ai was truly purring now, deep throated and blissful. Neither demon was aware that the other was plotting the demise of their desired.

* * *

The girls were rushing around getting ready, except for Ami, Kara, and Day. Solaris, in her normal klutzy role, kept tripping over Azurite's tail, Foxglove was trying to put on too much mascara, and Raccoon was reasoning (i.e. fighting) with Jenks. Rooney wiped the mascara off the foxgirl.

"A little goes a long way, Foxglove." she explained, helping the girl. Aside from eye shadow, Rooney was ready: her red hair elegantly styled, the blue-gray dress stunning. She soon joined the other three. Ami's nails were now red, matching a long red dress accented by dangling rhinestones on her ears and at her throat. Kara, predictably, was in black, her raven hair braided and glossy black eyes observing the chaos five girls could create. Day had a knee-length halter of white and aqua blue and lace up heels that looked very nice.

"Sorry!" Azurite cried out as Solaris tripped again.

"No worries. I trip all the time," Solaris said as she pulled herself up, thanking her stars that she hadn't thrown her dress on yet. Foxglove and her electric blue tube dress joined the number of the ready at the same time as Raccoon, who wore an emerald green Chinese style dress. Azurite had gone for a midnight blue one-shoulder dress and had sat down, finally ceasing Solaris's falls. Melody finally emerged in a pale blue prom dress that looked like something out of a fairy tale. Sequins and beads were scattered across the skirt, and sewn in rows at the top. The skirt was very poofy and she really looked like royalty.

"Where'd you get that?" Ami asked in awe.

"A bookstore. I got my sword there too." Melody smiled almost evilly. Ami got the feeling she didn't want to talk, so she hushed. Just then Solaris emerged.

* * *

Kurama mentally gaped as the girls came down the hall. An array of colors and styles hit him like a tidal wave. Hiei looked unimpressed, though he too, was mentally gaping. Then Solaris came running after the group. This time Kurama really _did_ gape. She looked like a summer bride in her white dress and sandal heels. Her hair was braided into a bun (though the front strands were perpetually loose) and her eyes were tinted purple on the lids.

"Thanks," she smiled as he held the elevator. _–You look very handsome, -_ she telepathed to him. He smiled and surreptitiously grasped her hand. She understood, smiled, and moved a little so no one would be able to see them.

"That dress is very… blue, muse." Hiei said hesitantly. It wasn't his choice! Kurama had told him that he _had _to be polite to each girl at least once! Foxglove smiled and tried to grab his arm.

"Can't you just say 'nice'? Thanks." She smiled. Melody was leaning against the glass, trying to act nonchalant; Hiei moved over there to escape Foxglove.

"Hn." Hiei sighed; he was _really_ out of his element! Maybe Melody would understand.

"Huh?" she asked. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" Hiei had to bite his tongue to keep from lashing out.

"I said 'Hn'." he repeated and moved away.

"Oh. Thanks." She smiled, then turned to Kara. "Uh, do you know exactly what he said? I have a couple of ideas, but one is weird and the other is impossible."

"What are the ideas?" Kara asked disinterestedly.

"Well, the first is 'go eat squid' and the second it 'you look nice'." Melody said.

"Well, I guess the impossible is possible." Kara shrugged. Melody was partially confused. Hiei had complimented her? She enjoyed it, but almost wished it had been about the squid.

By the time the group had reached the ballroom, Hiei had complimented each girl. Jenks was praising him.

"See, like I always say, takes mor' courage ta give s'mone a compl'ment than it does ta bring 'em down! Brave soul, man, brave soul!" Jenks smiled as he rode on Hiei's shoulder.

"Hush Jenks! We know you think it's courageous, now make like a plushy! Sheesh, how you made me bring you…" Raccoon chided.

"You okay, Hiei?" Azurite asked.

"So… much… kindness… I'm gonna be sick…" came Hiei's reply.

"Oh, hell, we'll take you to a funeral tomorrow!" Solaris laughed.

"Hiei, you're doing great. Civility isn't so difficult, now is it?" Kurama said. Hiei growled in fury.

"Shut up, fox, or I really will rip out your voice box."

"You won't and you know it." Solaris laughed. Before Hiei had the chance to demonstrate on her, she had run off into the ballroom of the hotel, with only a cry of 'jazz!' Kurama laughed and walked off after her. She'd come to like jazz somehow.

* * *

"Why did we come to this party?" Foxglove asked Day later. It had been two hours, she was bored, and Hiei hadn't danced with her all night. Day looked bored too, but it could've been exhaustion. She had had to stop several fights between Raccoon and Jenks, Kara and some annoying lech, and Ami and anyone who made her mad. (She was really quick tempered!)

"It was our last hoo-rah in Kyoto. Methinks we'd have been better off visiting the mountains today." Day sighed. Melody showed up, tugged Foxglove away, and Day walked off to find someone to dance with.

Rooney, Raccoon, Jenks and Ami were snacking. Kara and Azurite came over, looking rather bored. "Melody pushed Foxglove into a dance with Hiei. And Melody called next dibs." Azurite noted.

"How'd they manage that?" Ami asked in amazement. Hiei didn't strike her as the type to dance with anyone!

"Melody has her ways." Kara said.

"And Solaris has Kurama wrapped around her little finger." Azurite observed.

"She always does!" Rooney laughed. Suddenly, Raccoon's ears flattened, hiding the crystal dragons she had that night. "What's wrong?"

"Sota…" was all she'd say.

Indeed, Sota had just strolled in, in a powder pink tux, with the black-bedecked Ai on his arm. Her lingerie-inspired dress looked, if possible, even trashier than Sota. (A/N: I was getting prom catalogs from December to February, it was a major style. And one I hated.)

"Solaris-Chan… May I have the honor of this dance?" Sota asked. Solaris grimaced.

"Okay, _EW!_ If I didn't hate you before, I would despise you now! Pink on a guy's tux is disgusting!" she said loudly.

"Kurama, dance with me…" Ai purred.

"Uh, sorry, my dances are all taken this evening." Kurama said, not trying to hide how _not_ sorry he was.

"Try again in a few millennia and another lifetime!" Solaris smiled evilly. Suddenly, Ai clawed he across the face.

"Reach out and touch somebody." Ai laughed menacingly. Solaris merely grimaced, wiped the blood off her face, and punched the cat demon on the bridge of the nose.

"Actions speak louder than words," she said and turned to leave. Sota pushed Kurama out of the way and grabbed Solaris from behind, pinning her arms.

"You look like a bride tonight." He smiled, running a taloned finger down her jaw. Sota had transformed into something less human looking: his teeth had become fangs, and his skin now had a bluish, scaly appearance. He loudly slurped a few drops of blood off her cheek. "You knew I was coming for you, didn't you, my little minx?"

"I only look like this because I had nothing else suitable to wear!" Solaris yelled as she stomped her heel down (hard!) onto his toe. While he hopped around in pain. She ran back to Kurama. "And I am _not_ a mink-lynx cross! I am a fox and don't you EVER forget!" As they strolled away, Sota grabbed Solaris's wrist. "Goddamn you for a stubborn ass! Let go! And get it through your skull! I don't like you, never have and never will! So just get lost, all right!"

"Oh, you BITCH!" Ai yelled, clawing at Solaris's side. She wasn't hurt this time, but her dress was severely torn. "You were leading him on this whole time, now do as you told him!" Solaris growled and began to wallop Ai.

"I never told him nothin'! He got the idea I wanted him somehow and ignored me when I said no! Now you get yourself and your little toy outta my life and the lives of my friends or I may well kill you!" Ai was soon dispatched, and the partygoers were staring. Solaris laughed uneasily.

"Sorry folks. You just have to be firm with the jealous baka types." She smiled, then turned to Kurama and said, "Let's get outta here."

"Solaris, look out behind you!" Foxglove yelled. Solaris turned to see Sota. He looked _very_ much like a fish, of sorts. The whole group ran up as several ningens began a panic by shouting 'demon!'

"Damn! He doesn't care who sees!" Raccoon said angrily.

"At this rate he'll expose us all!" Kara said, infuriated. Solaris's eyes thinned to slits, and Day noticed that her eyes were brown.

"Kurama, has Solaris always had brown eyes?" Day asked quietly.

"Yes, why?"

"I thought they were black." Day said.

"Guys, it'd be wise to back up. She's snapping." Foxglove said. "She's a total nut when her eyes turn amber, and they're well on their way there."

"SOTA!" Solaris yelled in fury. She got right in his face, shouting, "I DON'T like you, I NEVER have, and never WILL, and you catching me trying to pick your pocket was pure dumb luck! So wipe any false hopes of me loving you out of your sick little mind!"

A bright light suddenly emitted from two sources: one from Solaris, who was so furious that her demonic energy was visible, and the other was from Ami-Rei! He shoulder-length hair went silver, and pinkish-purple faerie wings sprouted from her back.

"What the-! You're a faerie!" Rooney questioned in shock.

"Half-faerie, half-human, but do we have the time to get into this? Thought not! Azurite, follow me!" Ami yelled as she took off. The Ryuu-youkai didn't question until they had reached the kitchen.

"Why are we here?" Azurite asked.

"Where else can we find eggos? And charcoal?" Ami pointed out. "You set up the circle, I'll get the eggos."

"Chocolate chip eggos." Azurite amended. "They're tasty when the alchemy wears off."

The battle was raging in the ballroom. Solaris was wailing on Sota as best she could, and Kurama was trying to keep Ai out of it.

"I'd really rather not hit a lady!" Kurama said, ignoring how Kuwabara-like that sounded. Suddenly Day popped up, smiling.

"I will!" she yelled, then proceeded to beat the snot out of Ai for the second time that night. Jenks looked amazed.

"She's alway' seemed so level-head'd." Jenks marveled.

"I know." Kurama nodded.

Foxglove was in the process of beating on Sota's back, yelling as loudly as she could, when he threw her off and right into Hiei's arms. "Uh, thanks," she said, then jumped right back into the fray.

Melody had decided to help Day out and the pair were rapidly becoming too much for Ai to handle. When Rooney joined them, Ai had to give up. She was knocked out.

"How d'ya like that!" Solaris yelled in her rage. Her eyes had darkened a little, and she was regaining control.

"I like that just fine…" Sota smiled as he somehow divided into nine. "One for each of your little friends. Minus the pixy and the two deserters."

"Oi! Jus' 'cause I'm li'l don't mean I can' be a threat!" Jenks yelled, then blasted one of the Sotas. Raccoon got to work. Melody beat at another with the heel of one of her shoes, Rooney pulled off a series of martial arts maneuvers that amazed onlookers (the unfortunate few who hadn't gotten out in time), and Kara used her shadow powers to confuse hers into a stupor. Day, normally so gentle, was using a broken table leg to beat one over the head, Hiei was slashing with his katana, and Kurama had long since given up using his fists in favor of the rose whip. The twin foxes (Solaris and Foxglove, of course), however, had not. Just when it looked like they were winning, each Sota split into nine more!

"There's too many!" Foxglove cried.

"Keep fighting!" Kara yelled. It was obvious that everyone was on their collective last leg, though. Just as they were about to fall, a rush of chocolate chip scent hit the room like a tsunami. An army of eggos rushed in and attacked all the Sotas except for Solaris's. Ami and Azurite entered, Azurite cheering and laughing evilly.

"Go my pretties! Attack!" she yelled and cackled.

"Isn't it 'charge'?" Ami asked.

"It's attack! They took care of charge already!" Azurite said.

"Yay! Who knew an army could be so tasty?" Solaris asked as she ate one quickly. "And now, my foolish one… LEAVE US ALONE!" Solaris shouted as she beat his head into the floor.

"And I win…" Solaris gasped before she fell unconscious into Kurama's arms.

* * *

"How is she?" Ami asked the next morning. She had transformed back to normal right after the battle. Everyone had been worn out, but Solaris had been unconscious for the rest of the night. Kurama had stayed up to watch over her.

"She's better." Kurama smiled just as Solaris entered. Foxglove, wanting her sister to wake up comfortably, had changed the fox demon to her tunic.

"Ow… Morning already?" Solaris asked. "And where the hell is my dress? I wanna fix it."

"It's done." Rooney said as she pointed to the coffee table. Jenks appeared to be pacing back and forth, but he was actually repairing the final tear. It looked like it had never been torn at all.

"Las' one, lassie. Cut th' thread, woul'ya?" he asked. Raccoon sighed, but did so. Solaris looked at the pixy in awe.

"You are full of surprises!" she smiled as she hugged Jenks.

"Now now lass! Don' squeeze th' life outta me!" Jenks laughed, then wriggled away. "Next time, you do it yourself."

"Don't worry. That dress won't see anymore fights." Solaris promised. "So Sota's gone?"

"Yeah, I picked up a trace of youki _late_ last night, then all three traces were gone." Day nodded.

"So that's that…" Foxglove said softly.

"No need to sound so disappointed." Melody said.

"I'm not," Foxglove smiled.

"Are we ready to leave?" Hiei asked. He could hardly wait to see Tokyo again.

"Almost. Guys, I need to know now: who is coming back to Tokyo with us?" Solaris asked. Her auburn hair shimmered in the sunlight, making her seem more serious and ethereal.

"Count me and Jenks in." Raccoon said. "You four get into so much trouble, we gotta be there."

"I'm going too." Day smiled. "After all, who's going to keep Raccoon out of trouble?"

"I'll go too." Rooney nodded, not bothering with any speeches.

"I told you I was going to Tokyo, didn't I?" Melody laughed. "I'm coming with!"

"Maybe my alchemy will come in handy again!" Azurite smiled.

"Why not?" Ami shrugged. "Kara?" she asked.

"You people are looney. The only place you belong is in a padded cell." Kara scowled. "Someone has to try to keep the sanity. Now how long will this trip take?"

"All right!" Solaris cheered. "All I've got to do is get dressed and I'm ready to go."

"Hey, vixen? _No side trips._" Hiei said menacingly.

"Trust me, I'm just as eager to get home as you, Hiei." Solaris smiled as she ran into the other room. Everyone else left to get their suitcases.

"Hey, Kara, I've noticed you've kept your fox tail and ears 24/7 since you showed up at our room. Does that mean you trust us?" Foxglove asked.

"Not necessarily." Kara said as she walked to the elevator, with just a hint of a smile on her face.

* * *

Solaris: Okay, and now it's the beginning of the end! Character applications are closed, sorry! I'm working on the assumption that everyone wanted their character to go back to Tokyo, so if I'm wrong, please tell me! Well, hope you liked it! Ja ne 'til next time! 


	14. On the Road Again

Road Trip Chapter 14: On the road again!

Kurama: Solaris is off writing chapter 16, Foxglove is locked in a closet somewhere, and Hiei didn't want to, so I'm doing the disclaimer this time. Solaris doesn't own Yu Yu Hakusho or the characters therein, Dance Dance Revolution or any of the songs or artists, or laser tag. And now begins the end. _**–**Sighs and pulls the cue cards from behind the desk and walks away-  
_

_

* * *

_

"Well, I have to hand it to you. I didn't think you could fit all 12 of us in that dinky-ass car." Rooney laughed.

"Well, hell, five of us in the car, the other seven in the trailer. No sweat." Solaris grinned.

"Solaris, I feel like a sardine!" Foxglove whimpered. She was crammed between Rooney and Day. Solaris turned around in the passenger seat.

"Well, Hiei didn't want to ride in the car, so you were the only logical choice! Besides, do you really want to go to the hospital to get your intestines pieced back together and put back into your stomach?"

"No."

"Good! Then it's settled. Wherever Hiei is on the return trip, you're away from him." Solaris nodded and turned back around.

"Solaris, isn't that sort of cruel?" Raccoon asked from the driver's seat.

"Nah, it's justified. Plus I love to see her suffer." Solaris giggled evilly.

"Hey, watch what you say about the muse." Foxglove said angrily. "I got dah powah!"

"To piss me off?"

"Hey, let's chill! Turn on some tunes, would you, Jenks?" Raccoon asked. The pixy hopped down from the dashboard and hit 'play' on the CD player, praying it wasn't death metal in the player. Luckily, it wasn't.

--

"Wonder how the girls are doing?" Hiei asked.

"Aw, are you worried for Foxglove?" Kurama laughed.

"No, I'm worried for us! This doesn't look like the road we took coming here!" Hiei yelled.

"Chill out, Hiei," Melody said softly, trying to calm him. "Things always look unusual in reverse."

"Settle." Kara said, and left it at that.

"It's the scenic route. The four days and four nights scenic route." Azurite muttered to Ami as they looked at a map. (A/N: Kurama here again. Solaris is working on low energy, late nights, and little to no knowledge of Japan's roads. So, gomen nasai for the girl.)

"Doesn't kill me." Ami shrugged. "May kill him," she said as she jerked a purple-tipped thumb at Hiei.

"Now you have _me_ wondering how the other girls are doing." Kurama sighed.

"I'm sure they're fine. They've got a combined age of, what, 600? With 6 centuries or more on their side, we're in good hands." Melody smiled.

"We don't know that for sure." Ami pointed out.

"And Solaris and Foxglove have the collective maturity of a six year old." Hiei scowled.

"Hiei, shut up. I think they've acted _very_ mature this whole time." Kurama sighed as he laid back on the bed.

--

"_Just when I think I'm winning_

_That I've broken every door_

_The ghosts of my life are wilder than before!"_ The girls in the car sang, laughing. Solaris and Foxglove abused the car, beating the rhythm out on the dashboard and the back of the seats, then it went off. (For names of songs, see the end of this chapter.)

"Damn. DDR music is way short. Oh, change it! I hate this one!" Raccoon said, and Jenks followed her instructions.

"Waka Laka!" Foxglove yelled. Hyperactivity abounded. Even Rooney got into the spirit of things!

"Hey, let's roll the windows down, it's Freckles!" Solaris suggested.

--

"It's getting warm in here. Can we open a window?" Ami asked. Kurama sat up and opened the window on his side of the trailer. _Then _he heard it.

"What the…" he muttered.

_-I brushed against the freckles that I hated so_

_My life goes on and I heave a little sigh for you_

_It's heavy, the love that I would share for you_

_And it dissolved like it was just a sugar cube…-_

"That's Solaris!" Melody gasped. She'd never heard the vixen sing, so she wasn't sure, but it sounded like her!

"Foxglove too!" Hiei scowled. "Damn, collective maturity of a four year old!"

"I thought you said six?" Azurite asked.

"It just went down." He replied.

"Sounds like the others just started in." Ami noted.

"Hm… not a bad sound. Y'know, for singing at the top of their lungs." Kara said grudgingly."

--

"Whee!" Foxglove laughed. Solaris was singing in an undertone now, what sounded like _Pink Rose_.

"So… have we created a monster?" Rooney asked.

"Nah, when she's drunk at a kareoke bar she's awful. She sings anything in that state. She sang some Spice Girls song drunk once, funny as hell." Foxglove laughed.

"Phew! Thanks, I was in songstress mode there." Solaris smiled.

"We need to stop at an arcade or something, get all this energy out." Day laughed.

"True. But for now…" Rooney smiled, then all occupants of the car yelled out:

"**Break Down!" **

**--**

"Jeez, maturity levels just sank below the floor," Hiei sighed.

"I'm actually glad that we're not in there. They'd kill us with the hyperactivity." Azurite said.

"_LOVE SHINE!"_

"Oh, god…"Kurama sighed. Ami was fanning his face trying to calm him down.

--

"Solaris, is that sake?" Day chided.

"No, raspberry flavored water." Solaris laughed. "Ooh, Obsession!"

"How come I must know 

_Where obsession needs me to go?"_

"If it's possible to get drunk off of raspberry water, I think Sol-chan just has." Raccoon laughed nervously.

"It's sugar high. We've been driving for an hour and a half and she's had two of those." Day rationalized.

"Gotta be. Whoops! One o'clock, nap time for foxes!" Foxglove said, then passed out.

"Someone shake my sister awake! I see an arcade!" Solaris yelled.

"In this wilderness? It's a mir-" Raccoon began, then saw it. "Or not."

--

"Hey, why are we stopping?" Hiei asked. As soon as he got out of the trailer, he saw the two-story arcade. "In _this_ wilderness?" he questioned.

"My thoughts exactly." Raccoon said. Jenks fluttered to Hiei's shoulder and fell asleep. "He seems to like your shoulder." She nodded, her foxtail swishing. "Would you watch him? Thanks!" Raccoon hugged Hiei and ran to join the others. He stood there a moment, still surprised by the warmth. It wasn't unpleasant…

"But I still don't like it!" he muttered to himself as he joined them.

Solaris and Foxglove had just finished a round of DDR, pulling off poses at each opportunity. Hiei was trying a VR fighting game; Jenks tucked into a pocket of his cloak. Kara was winning at a motorcycle racing game, and Ami was losing to Kara by one position. Kurama was waiting to play against Solaris, and everyone else was on the second floor, playing laser tag.

"Hyperactive fun!" Solaris called as she put the game on _321 Stars_. As soon as that was over, she dragged Kurama over to a Keyboard Mania game. "Let's play this!" she smiled. He laughed and paid; she would pay for the next game. The first thing she put it on was _Heart of Sword_. (A/N: I'm sure it doesn't really have that, but I'm inspired, so let me write.) No one gave much thought to the five people playing laser tag upstairs.

--

"This is nuts, man!" Melody cried out softly. The girls had gotten in there, and suddenly five opponents had appeared! Melody and Azurite were waiting behind a divider.

"No foolin'," Azurite nodded. "The screaming…" Rooney had been the first to take one out. Now she was sitting behind a _very_ solid divider, in shock. The lasers were not just toys! One shot would take out anyone alive! Melody had been grazed by a laser on her hand, and she was finally regaining some feeling.

"Gus, I'm going." Day said stubbornly.

"I can take one out!" Raccoon insisted. She had been rubbing her lower leg, trying to regain feeling where a laser had gotten her.

"No, you stay and tend Rooney." Day sounded really determined. The remaining four opponents tried to sneak up on the divider. Day looked out from under said divider, and did something unorthodox: she jumped up and took out all four, rapid fire. When her feet touched the floor again and she heard the reassuring thud, Day blew on the tip of the gun, like in an old western movie.

"Now let's get Rooney and get going!" Day said. No one argued.

"Let's get outta here!" Rooney said when they reached the first floor. A voice suddenly rang out.

"**You'll pay for what you did to Sota and Ai!"**

"Not them! They haunt me yet!" Solaris growled.

"I thought it was too convenient…" Raccoon said. Each fox (and dog) ear was lowered in fury.

"The doors are locked!" Foxglove cried. Hiei was in silent shock; he'd never seen her cry in fear. Solaris, yes, even Kurama had seen that, but not Foxglove! Foxglove had only ever been seen crying in anger!

"Ooh…" Solaris growled.

"**You'll pay!"**

"Yeah, I get the damned idea!" Solaris yelled. "Where are ya, I'm gonna kill ya! No, better yet, you come to me!" Kurama held her back by the shoulders.

"Hey, quit the Inuyasha tactics! We need to get outta here!" Ami yelled.

"Fine, you want out before this creep dies, you'll get out!" Solaris shrieked, slamming her foot into a wall. The building shrieked.

"The demon is the arcade!" Kara said.

"I'm gonna need help. We gotta kick the glass out of the doors while everyone else beats the walls. Who's with me?" Solaris declared stubbornly. All but Foxglove nodded or said 'hai'. Foxglove was in frightened shock.

"Oh, snap out of it!" Hiei yelled as he shook the muse. "This is no time for fear! Now we need the normal Foxglove! Cry all you want later, buck up and help out now!" Kara went one step further: she slapped the girl.

"OW! That hurt!"

"Yeah, I meant for it to! And if you don't straighten up, I'll slap you again! Now are you kickin' glass or beating walls?"

"Wuh-walls…" Foxglove said in fright.

"Fine. I'll help kick out the doors." Azurite and Kara said at the same time.

"Hey, wall people. Lasers?" Day smiled. All eight of the wall people took a laser and started shooting; surprisingly, they worked!

"On my mark! Ichi…Ni…San!" Solaris yelled, and on 'san' the three girls kicked out the glass. "Now! Run for it!" she yelled.

"But Jenks!" Raccoon yelled, almost in tears.

"I've got him, come on!" Hiei yelled, grabbing hers and Foxglove's wrists and running. Solaris grabbed driver's side this time and Kurama hopped in the passenger's seat. All others ran for the trailer.

"We won't make it!" Ami shouted to Melody as they ran. Melody's tail and ears had popped up, and Ami's hair had a silver cast to it, like she was ready to transform.

"The hell we won't." Melody said, then pushed Ami in reach of the trailer. Day pulled the half-faerie girl into the trailer, and Melody put on the speed. She almost didn't make it, but Hiei jumped out, grabbed her by the waist, and jumped back in. When the door was securely closed, he sighed and sat down. Melody collapsed in relief.

"10. And the ringleaders are in the car. That nut. She nearly left two of us." Hiei scowled.

"She wanted out of there as much as we did." Rooney rationalized.

"Jenks! Where's my pixy?" Raccoon cried. Hiei reached inside a cloak pocket and pulled out the pixy, laying him on a pillow.

"Slept the whole time."

"Thank you!" Raccoon cried happily, hugging the fire demon again.

"Personal… No, go ahead. If it makes you feel better." Hiei sighed, thinking better of pushing the girl away.

--

Late that night, as Hiei was just about to fall asleep, Foxglove spoke. "Th-thanks for saving me. It was really brave. And a noble thing to do for a loved one."

"Do I need to wake Kara up to slap you again? I _don't _love you." Hiei's crimson eyes shone in the darkness. "I don't even like you as a friend. I only tolerate you for the sake of living in a house."

"Hiei, deep down I know you like me at least a little! Maybe not like-like, but at least like!" Foxglove protested.

"You picked up on that confusing ningen slang too quickly." Hiei scowled before falling asleep.

--

"I'll drive in you want…" Kurama offered.

"No! I'm getting us to Tokyo as fast as I can, no unnecessary stops, nothing! I don't want another arcade incident on my hands! I didn't tell you… or anyone this, but…" Solaris sighed, rallying her courage. "I didn't tell Koenma that we were leaving."

"WHAT! You specifically said…"

"I know what I specifically said! And now I'm telling you what I specifically _didn't _say. Or do, to be more precise." She sighed again, deciding to be open. "I didn't want a set time of return. Road trips don't work like that, so far as I know. So I didn't tell him and I didn't answer when he called." She took her hands off the wheel and ran them through her hair. "If he doesn't revoke my parole, I'll be amazed."

"I didn't think you had to check in. I mean, ningen parole and all…" Kurama trailed off, then sighed. "I thought it was something like nine and Hiei's."

"It is, in the sense that I wronged the Reikai and got sent to the Ningenkai. But when I go out of Tokyo, where there's a chance I can get lost from one of the Tantei, I have to call in." She would have dearly loved to slam her hand on the car horn, but she didn't. "His last message… he sounded really pissed."

"I would be too." Kurama sighed, then pulled her cell phone out of a small black leather pouch. "Call him."

--

Koenma was raging around his office, ignoring Botan and Ayame's attempts to calm him. It was 11:30 PM, it had been almost two weeks, and neither Solaris nor Foxglove had called in!

"That girl is…!" he began, his rant left unfinished when the phone rang. He snatched it up. "Yes!"

_-Sheesh, chill. I'm checking in.-_

"Solaris! Where are you and what have you been doing!" Koenma yelled, infuriated.

"You'd think her call would calm him down a little." Botan muttered. Ayame nodded.

_-Uh, let's see… somewhere in Shizuoka prefecture, the middle of nowhere, and I've been touring Kyoto. Picked up a new friend… or eight.-_ Solaris sounded so calm! _–Took care of three demons for you. Human eating, as far as I can tell.- _

"Stop the devil-may-care attitude! You sound like Yusuke!" Koenma yelled. "Why wait until now to call!"

_-Kurama told me to. Oh, and let the devil care! I sure as hell don't!-_ Solaris laughed.

"I thought you had religion!"

_-Nah. Went agnostic after the nun thing. Figured I don't hit the church, why say I have religion?- _This was new. _–Y'know, maybe I'm not agnostic. What's something that's not atheist, but non-worship?-_ She asked.

"Does that matter! Lemme talk to Kurama!" Koenma demanded.

_-Yes?-_ Kurama asked.

"Had any problems with her?" Koenma asked. Kurama was knocked for a loop. He had expected a 'you let her go to Kyoto!' fit or an 'it's your fault!' at the very least.

_-Uh… no. No problems. She went on a ninja fit, but that passed in a day…No, Solaris, I will not let you forget that. Hey! Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel! No! Not there!- _Kurama yelled, then the call ended.

"What do you suppose that was about?" Ayame asked. The other two occupants of the room…er, office merely shrugged.

--

"Solaris! Stop!" Kurama was trying to move away. He had hit 'end' just as Solaris began trying to grab his sides and reclaim her cell phone. "Ten and two!"

"Actually I think it's nine and three now, and it's a straight stretch so get used to this and thank cruise control, love!"

"Seriously, quit!" He started laughing; she had succeeded in grabbing his side.

"Not until you return the Nokia!" Solaris giggled; torture had never been so fun! Of course, torture is always more fun if you aren't the one being tortured.

"Here, take it!" he choked out between laughs and handed her the phone. She put it back in the case, laughing. "You are one evil creature, you know it?"

"I try." She smiled, finally putting her hands back on the wheel.

"Do you want me to take over?" Kurama asked.

"Nah, I'm good until the next prefecture." Solaris smiled sleepily.

"You look tired. We could pull over…"

"NO! What if another demon comes? I can't sleep!" Solaris yelled. Kurama just barely saw tears falling. "I don't wanna fight anymore! But… a demon living in the Ningenkai… it's hard not to!" She was all out sobbing now. "How you've stood it… my arts have failed me, I've buried myself in translating a Spanish book to English, and I still wanna get out and get into a major back alley fight!"

"Solaris, pull over, okay? I don't sense any strange demon energy." Kurama insisted. This time, Solaris did what she was told. Her head was on the wheel as she sobbed.

"I dream of fighting the most unlikely of people! College students, Mitsuo, strangers, Foxglove, Hiei, Yusuke… even you! Going all out and fighting is what I want so badly to do! But I can't let myself, because if I do, then…" She drew her breath unsteadily. "Then I jeopardize the knowledge of the three worlds. And should some ningen find out… I wouldn't be here anymore, I'd be nowhere, I'd be _dead_, because Koenma would kill me."

Kurama pulled her into an awkward one-armed hug. She had seemed so down a few days before they left, but he thought she was over it! She had done a good job of hiding it. "Do you really want to keep going? At the rate we're going we'll be back in Tokyo in no time." He held her close, wishing that all her tears could evaporate, and the old bubbly Solaris would be back again. "I'll wake one of the others up; Hiei's wanted to try driving for a while." He offered.

"No, no, that's okay. I don't want anyone else to wake up on my account. I'm so… childish!" she cried, nearly gasping for breath.

"You aren't. You have your immature moments, but that's all right." He slowly rocked her back and forth, soothing her. "Shh… Shh… all you need is some rest. You've had the bat out of Hades drive since we escaped." He calmed. Suddenly, there was a rap at the window.

"Hey, hate to interrupt this sweet moment, but… are we going? That estimate was driving all day and night…What's wrong with Solaris?" Azurite asked, oddly alert.

"Break down." Kurama explained.

"Want my muse…" Solaris muttered.

"I'll drive, you take here to Foxglove. And get some rest yourself, you've been awake almost 24 hours straight." Azurite said. Kurama didn't question, he just got out of the car and carried the foxgirl to the trailer.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Foxglove asked, yawning. Hiei turned over to watch.

"She had a nervous breakdown." Kurama said as he set the foxgirl down.

"Sis!" Solaris cried as she ran over to the futon. This time, Foxglove had the duty of calming the nervous wreck. In no time the motion of the trailer had them soothed to sleep. Kara had gone to make sure Azurite stayed awake, so Kurama got a futon.

"They're sorta cute asleep." Hiei mumbled reluctantly.

"Yeah." Kurama nodded. "I don't get it. One minute we were joking, she was trying to steal her cell phone back, the next she was crying."

"She doesn't take teasing well?"

"No, not that, she was having a blast then. I suggested we pull over and she started crying about how she didn't want to fight." Kurama explained. "She dreams of fighting anyone. And I do mean _anyone_."

"Hn." Hiei scowled. It translated to 'I knew she was crazy but…that girl needs therapy.'

"And if she _did_ go to therapy? It'd be more lies, she'd have to hide her true pain. How would that help?" Kurama asked angrily.

"…I knew it. She's special, isn't she? Something else?" Hiei asked quietly. Kurama didn't answer, but turned his back.

"Hiei, you may be one of my best friends, but I don't have to answer. Now good night." he said icily. Hiei shrugged it off. It was only exhaustion and stress. Come morning, the fox would be fine.

* * *

Kurama: And that concludes this chapter.

Solaris: -From another room- Hey! Song list, buddy!

Kurama: -Stressed look- Fine! The songs in this chapter were:

Ghosts-Vincent DeMoor Remix, Waka Laka, Freckles (English version), Pink Rose, Break Down, Love Shine, Obsession , and Heart of Sword.

That's all. Review, please.


	15. More insanity and WTF?

Road Trip, YYH Style!

Foxglove: Foxglove here. Kurama refused to do this chapter's disclaimer, said he didn't want to deal with Solaris's tendency to go crazy if something pulled her away from writing. Hiei ran off, and voila! I get stuck with this crap. So, while Solaris is writing a new fic for you to hopefully enjoy sometime in the near future, I'd like to say… Solaris owns herself and me. Anything else is owned by their respective creators. She especially doesn't own YYH, credit that to Yoshihiro Togashi. Read on.

* * *

Chapter 15: More insanity and WTF!

* * *

An uneventful day had passed, Solaris had slept 24 hours straight, and the group was two days outside of Tokyo.

"Awake now, foxgirl?" Kara asked. Solaris nodded.

"Good thing, too. Foxglove almost turned us into road kill when she drove." Raccoon laughed. "You woke up at the perfect time."

"I can't help it! If she's asleep, I get tired. I can pass out and she won't feel a thing, but I get tired when she's asleep!" Foxglove protested.

"You liar, you were just coming off a caffeine buzz and her yelling when she woke up startled you away." Melody laughed. No one bought Foxglove's story. Good thing too, considering it was bull.

"My muse and I died peacefully in our sleep. The other 10 people travelling with us died screaming." Solaris said, her twist on an old joke.

"It's all over now, the muse isn't in shock anymore, let's let it die." Hiei sighed. Everyone else in the trailer nodded their agreement. The car slowed to a halt and Day opened the trailer door. She and Ami entered, grabbing things from their suitcases.

"Okay, 6:30 AM, do what you have to and get ready." Ami smiled. The whole group went their separate directions in the campsite.

"So, who's driving next?" Day asked.

"I'unno," Ami said around a mouthful of toothpaste. (A/N: And no one can say that they've never done that before, I'm sure!) "Sorry, I have no clue." She said as soon as she had spit it out.

"I think Hiei and Raccoon are driving next, but I'm riding in the car." Melody said, then left the bamboo blind, wearing black shorts and an Inuyasha-print black tank top and carrying her pajamas.

"Understandable." Solaris nodded, then stretched her legs. "I'm goin' for a run. I want to get into what shape I can. Gonna need it to run from Koenma when I get back to Tokyo, 'cause two days ago, he was royally pissed at me."

"TWO DAYS! You've got to be insane!" Azurite called after her, but Solaris couldn't hear it over her music.

--

"So you called next to drive?" Kurama asked.

"Yes, I _can_ drive. So before you comment, don't. What's with the stretching? I can't remember you ever doing that, even before a fight." Hiei observed.

"I'm going running with Solaris. 30 minutes. She picks pockets for gas money, I beat any Sotas-to-be." Kurama said laughingly, then took off.

"Y'think he's finally los' it?" Jenks asked.

"I don't really know, Jenks. I think it began with Rose and Solaris finished it." Hiei sighed.

"Rose, who's tha'?" Jenks asked, and so Hiei told the pixy the saga of Rose and Thorne.

--

(While they do that, skip over to Kurama and Solaris. For the quote-unquote saga, read 'Fox Thief'. And yes, that was a shameless plug.)

Solaris noticed a bit of red that wasn't her sleeve or a flower. She pulled one headphone from her ear and looked at Kurama. "Wow, what inspired this fitness thing?"

"Same thing that got you?" Kurama tried.

"I doubt Koenma's going to try to kill _you._ Me, I'm expendable. You, _mi amor_, are not so." She smiled, never ceasing her run.

"Fine, I'm your bodyguard. Just in case pickpocket victims decide to try to kill you." Kurama admitted. The foxgirl stopped in her tracks.

"I'm not picking pockets anymore. There are none left to pick." She gestured to the trees. "This is nowhere's-ville, population 12, soon to leave for Tokyo."

"Oh. So this is just a 30-minute run?"

"Yeah, pretty much, then I hit that little pond really fast as a sort of shower."

"Ah." was all Kurama said.

"Well, I'm headed back. Oh, and Kurama-kun? Here's your wallet back." Solaris smiled and handed him the brown leather square. Everything was still there, she had only taken it for kicks. He snapped out of shock and ran after her.

--

Kurama rode for about two or three hours in the car. When it stopped for Melody to switch places with Hiei, he went to the trailer. Solaris lay on one of the beds, reading while Foxglove zoned to her music. Azurite, Kara, Ami, and Rooney were playing poker while Day made lunch. "Who's driving?" Day asked.

"Melody." Kurama answered.

"Thought it was Raccoon's turn?"

"Raccoon fell asleep a few kilometers back. Melody took over for her."

"Oh… well, she did stay up half the night arguing with Jenks. Of course she's tired." Day rationalized. "It was just half of a turkey sandwich. Surprises me that she'd be angry at him for eating it."

"Surprises me that he could." Rooney called. "And _that_, my friends, is a full house."

"Five aces." Azurite laughed. "Just kidding!" she quickly amended as she saw the glares. Solaris never looked up from her copy of 'Four Past Midnight'.

_Steven King, eh?_ Kurama thought, then snuck up on the girl and tapped her shoulder. Three things happened all at once: her book fell, she jumped, and a scream startled everyone.

--

At that moment in Tokyo, Mitsuo thought he heard a car wreck or a girl's scream; he couldn't really tell, but he was pretty sure it was the second. (A/N: Give an idea of how loud she can be?)

--

"Sheesh, Kurama, don't do that! I thought you were a goddamned langolier or something!" Solaris gasped.

"If you didn't always get so engrossed, you wouldn't have to worry. Hey…" he said as he looked at her black shirt. "That looks a lot like Youko's shirt dyed black."

"Same basic design. Just a different color. It looked comfy." She smiled.

"Why me?" Kurama sighed.

_-Divine punishment for making her think a goddamned langolier was coming for her!- _Youko crowed in the back of his mind. -_Say, what the hell is a goddamned langolier, anyway?-_

_It's a langolier, first, you don't have to curse. Second, it's a creature from a Steven King story. A character said the langoliers were creatures that ate lazy people, and toward the end it came to mean the creatures that ate yesterday or something like that._ Kurama thought.

"You know, some days I think your best conversations are with yourself, my schitzo friend." Solaris laughed.

"What! I'm not schitzo! I just can't help that Youko is there commenting on every thing. And now he wants out." Kurama said softly, leaning against the wall.

"Oh man… take deep breaths, don't think of what he wants out for…" Solaris said, trying to calm him, down.

"Too late." Kurama said. Solaris looked down to see the droop in her shirt and put two and two together as to how it looked from the side. It wouldn't show much, the way she had it fixed, but it would show just enough.

"Oh shit." Solaris said, clutching the shirt closed. Day was walking by with a glass of ice water, and Solaris, hardly thinking, stole a couple of ice cubes and threw them down the back of Kurama's shirt. The cold startled him out of the transformation. "Wow… didn't think that would work!" Solaris smiled as he tried to get the ice out of his shirt. Her giggling attracted attention, and soon the whole trailer was in an uproar. The ice was soon out of his shirt, Day went back to her lunch, Foxglove returned to her music, and the others got back to their poker game. Solaris was still smiling.

"Better?" she asked.

"Yeah, thanks." He said, lacing the 'thanks' with a ton of sarcasm. Solaris ignored it. "Youko says he's flattered that you like his shirt so much, but if you want him to stay inside my mind, he advises that you stitch up the sides a little."

"My advice to your pervy other self is to not be so pervy." Solaris grinned and turned back to her book. "Just a thought." The car slowed to a stop and Raccoon came get the trailer group.

"A photo studio? Here? Are you sure?" Day asked. Once bitten twice shy, as the old truth went.

"I'm sure. Turns out this scenic route isn't as scenic anymore. Hiei enlightened me to the fact that it took you about six days to get to Kyoto." Melody laughed.

"Yeah, but we stopped nights." Foxglove pointed out.

"So we're stopping here for an hour and getting a photo!" Raccoon insisted.

"Ah! Solaris, talk some sense into them!" Kara demanded; all the others seemed to agree with Raccoon and Melody.

"Hm… you know, I meant to get at least a print club in Kyoto… never got around to it, but I meant to. All right, photo's on me!" Solaris smiled gamely, then pulled out her cell phone. "Gotta make a call, hold up."

--

Koenma scowled at the phone. He'd had a sinking feeling that someone was going to call soon and he wasn't going to like it. Sure enough, the phone rang. "Reikai headquarters, Koenma speaking."

_-"Heya, Koenma-Sama! 'Sup?"-_ Solaris sounded happy.

"What now, Solaris? Oh, and sleep well?" He had heard about her day-long 'nap' from Kurama, who seemed to be the only responsible one in the group.

_-"Actually, yeah. Nothing like 24 consecutive hours of sleep. I rather pity you, not getting to take a nap once in a while. Maybe that's why you're so cranky…"-_

"WHAT DO YOU WANT, SOLARIS!" Koenma yelled; she had crossed a line! Whatever she wanted, it was 'no'!

_-"It's not entirely what I want. It's what you want. And if I recall correctly, you wanted that sapphire. Tears of the Ocean, I believe. One in a series of twenty? Put together they make a necklace that gives the wearer control over all water in all three dimensions?"- _Solaris could almost be heard smiling.

"What do you want for this information?" Koenma sighed. He knew that there was no way Solaris was telling him this for free, nor did she offer the same info twice. It was just how she operated. Sometimes he wondered if she had been trained by the Yakuza.

_-"Enough money for eleven photos. Eight by ten glossies."- _Now he could really hear her smiling.

"WHAT? ELEVEN!" he asked incredulously.

_-"Yeah. Eleven."- _

"Where is it?" Koenma sighed and sent the cash to her card. He had specifically had it made if she couldn't collect her payment herself; she got really mad if she didn't get her money.

_-"Thank you! And it's near the ocean, maybe 30 meters away. Baaiii!"-_ Koenma sighed and hung up. Once again she had won. And once again she had given sucky directions. He sighed a final time, and after telling Ayame to get a team out to the Makai to find the 'Tear of the Ocean', he laid his head on his desk. Maybe a nap was just what the doctor ordered.

--

"Okay, now smile! Three two one!" the photographer grinned. The flash went off and the 12 sat down to wait. Solaris idly twirled the rose Kurama had given her just before the photo was taken between her fingers.

"Well, that was a waste of twenty minutes." Kara said, sounding bored. "Damn waste of good money too."

"Oh, what makes you think that?" Foxglove laughed.

"The voices in my head." Kara growled and everybody left it at that. An hour later, they had the photos.

"I look so fat!" Foxglove mourned.

"You do not. I just look weird." Azurite said gently.

"We all look weird! Aside from Rooney, Melody, Ami and Kurama. Hey… Is that my wallet? Rooney!" Day yelled. Rooney tossed the dark blue wallet back.

"Sorry, once a thief always a thief." She shrugged.

"Not necessarily. Kurama was once a thief, but he doesn't steal anymore." Solaris reminded them.

"'Ception that proves th' rule, lass." Jenks said, staring at the photo over Raccoon's shoulder. It was amazing; his wings hadn't blurred!

"Good point." Kurama nodded.

"Sure, you just like the compliment!" Ami and Raccoon laughed simultaneously.

"Of course. Who doesn't like a compliment?" Kurama pointed out.

"I knew this guy once who tried to kill someone who complimented him. Wait… yeah, it was meant as a compliment." Melody said.

"Wow, what'd make him wanna kill the dude?" Solaris asked.

"'Nice buns'." Melody looked around at the puzzled looks, then explained. "He was a chef, and he took the guy the wrong way. Or maybe it was 'cause he stole a dinner roll."

"So, can we leave now?" Kara asked. Solaris nodded, and Kurama took the car keys. Hiei followed.

"The girls are all riding in the camper?" Kurama asked.

"Hn." Hiei nodded, then got in the car. "You know, you never answered my question. Is Solaris special to you or what?"

"I did answer; I don't have to tell you." Kurama sighed. Hiei glared at the red headed bishounen.

"Yes, you do have to answer. Your human mother would hate to know her son is not really a human. And wouldn't she really hate to know you hang out with two juvenile delinquents, a fire demon and two fox demons? Or how about I tell her…" Hiei began threateningly, "… that her innocent Shuiichi has really taken down demons by the score, killed them with his bare hands? Why, that'd break her heart."

"You don't know the number, you can't follow through." Kurama said, not sounding as sure as he looked. Hiei pulled Solaris's cell phone out of his pocket.

"Rooney and Solaris aren't the only pickpockets on this trip. And if I'm right, she has your home number right… here." Hiei smiled evilly as he held up the phone. 'Shiori' was on the screen, followed by a bunch of numbers.

"It could be Amashi Shiori's number. They are good friends."

"Were. Amashi-San was one of Sangatsu's Imouto-san's henchgirls. The vixen quit talking to her after the found out that the Jeep that nearly hit her was Amashi-San's boyfriend's, and it was not an accident." Hiei laughed. How could the fox not know that? He was the closest person to Solaris after all.

"Okay, so it's my home number. You wouldn't dare." Kurama scowled. Hiei still laughed.

"Try me. And since you're driving, and I know you hate to risk wrecking Solaris's car, so you won't take your hands off the wheel to take the phone."

"Try me." Kurama growled, and reached out with one hand to steal the phone. Hiei pulled it back.

"No answer, no phone."

"I never thought I'd see the day _you'd _resort to such juvenile tactics, Hiei. Fine." Kurama sighed. "She may be, she may not be. I'm not even sure. But I do know she's different from Rose. That said… hand it over!" he growled and reached out with both hands to reclaim Solaris's phone. Hiei was so shocked that Kurama would be so reckless that he let go easily. "Thank you, though. I do need to call my mother." Hiei blinked as Kurama hit 'call'.

--

Shiori was watching TV but paying no attention to the show. Her son had been gone for almost two weeks on this 'road trip' that Solaris-San's twin had suggested, and he hadn't called once. She knew that he could take care of himself, but it didn't keep her from worrying. Suddenly the phone rang.

"Minamino residence, Shiori speaking." She sighed, certain it wasn't Shuiichi. To her surprise…

-_'Kassan? It's Shuiichi."-_

"Shuiichi! How have you been? Two Weeks! I know how you are when you're with your friends, but I _do_ worry." She smiled, even as she scolded him. 

_-"I've been fine. Sorry for not calling earlier. Hiei reminded me that I hadn't, so I borrowed Solaris's phone."-_

"Oh! How is Jaganshi-San? And Moon-San and Adiea-San?" It had struck her as odd that twin sisters would have different surnames, but Moon-San had said something about a divorce, and _that_ ended that.

_-"Hiei's just fine, and so are Solaris and Foxglove. Solaris is still hyper and Foxglove is still 24-karat insane. Hiei did want to talk to you though, so I'm going to hand him the phone."- _

"Oh. Could you tell him to hold for one minute? I've got to turn the rice cooker off." Shiori sat the phone down and hurried to turn the appliance off. Darn thing, beeping the done signal during her conversation!

--

"Fox…" Hiei growled, one hand over the mouthpiece in case the ningen onna hadn't set it down.

"Well, you were so desperate to use her as a lever for my answer, I guessed that you wanted to talk to her. So chat, my friend!" Kurama laughed.

_-"Sorry. Jaganshi-San?"- _Shiori's voice came out of the phone. Hiei glared at Kurama one last time.

"Damn you." He growled before removing his hand from the mouthpiece.

--

_-"Sorry, needed to tell the fo- er, Shuiichi, something."- _If she didn't know better, Jaganshi-San had almost sounded unnerved. She smiled at how his voice sounded; not what you'd expect from someone Shuiichi and his other friends said could 'beat the daylights out of the strongest man alive'.

"It's all right. Shuiichi said you wanted to speak to me?" Shiori asked.

_-"Actually, I told him to say hello for me. How he skewed that into 'let me talk to your Okassan' is anyone's guess."- _

"I see." Shiori nodded. "How has the trip been?"

_-"Don't ask. Somehow Solaris managed to pick up eight people along the way."-_

"Eight! Doesn't she know that's dangerous?" Shiori gasped.

_-"If she doesn't know, she's more foolish than I thought. So far we've had no trouble. Aside from a perverted stalker, but he's gone."-_

"A stalker! Just where's he gone to?"

_-"Some hospital is my guess. The way she beat him up…"- _

"Beat him up! That's it, let me talk to Solaris!" Shiori half yelled. That girl needed a talking to!

_-"Hold on for just one minute… hey!"-_

--

"What's with you!" Hiei asked.

"You got my mom ticked off! You need help!" Kurama scowled, then turned to the phone. Hiei laughed; this was gonna be good.

--

_-"Kassan, Solaris is asleep right now. It's been a rough day for her."- _Shuiichi sounded frantic, but Shiori didn't notice.

"Shuiichi, she put someone in a hospital, now let me talk to her!"

_-"Kassan, he tried to do the same! The cops on the scene ruled it self defense, and I can guarantee you that as soon as he gets out of the hospital he's going to jail. Now, please, let Solaris sleep. She was up most of last night driving."- _Shuiichi was trying to protect the girl, and it was working for now.

"All right then. So, how long until you're home again?" Shiori could hardly wait until he had returned and she didn't have to worry anymore.

_-"Two days, Kassan. And all of us can hardly wait to be back in Tokyo."-_

"Okay. Have a safe trip, and be careful."

_-"We will. Ja ne."-_ Shuiichi said, and ended the call.

--

"Well, that was close. Oh, and thanks for nothing, Hiei." Kurama scowled.

"Hn." Hiei replied, and they kept driving.

* * *

Solaris: Okay, next chapter is the last. And sorry for the "Four Past Midnight" spoiler. Please review! Ja 'til next time! 


	16. Midnight Phone Call from

Road Trip: YYH Style!

Solaris: Okay, here's the last chapter to Road Trip. Thank you for hanging with me for 16 chapters of this insanity, and thanks to all the people who have reviewed and sent characters. You have made this story the most successful one in my books, though I'm still a little jealous of the people who get 50-100 reviews. Now, for the final installment of Road Trip! Oh, standard disclaimers apply.

* * *

Chapter 16: Midnight Phone Call from an Unexpected Person

* * *

Solaris was driving, singing to the radio, which was playing "Never Ever" by Ayumi Hamasaki. Rooney was asleep in the passenger seat, and Foxglove had passed out in the back seat. 'Koori no Naifu wo Daite' played low, and Solaris turned down the radio to answer he phone.

"Moshi moshi, Solaris Moon here."

_-"Moon-San? It's Minamino Shiori."-_

"Oyasumi, Minamino-San! Nani ka atta?" Solaris asked, smiling. (A/N: Nani ka atta-What's up?)

_-"I talked to Shuiichi today."- _Shiori said, as if it were no big deal.

"Really? That explains the sent call." Solaris muttered. Kurama had not told her _this_.

_-"I'm sorry to call so late, but I wanted to ask: is Shuiichi all right? He sounded so different today…"-_ Shiori hadn't heard Solaris's remark, some kinda miracle!

"Late? Nah. Midnight is my midmorning. And he was sorta ticked at Hiei for something." Solaris said.

_-"No, my son didn't sound angry. Just… different. I guess a little calmer than I'm used to."-_

"Hm… Vacations rock the mind. Or maybe it's cause we aren't far from home. Day and a half, maybe. Whoops! My bad! One day! Sorry 'bout that." Solaris laughed.

_-"Ah… well, he's all right, and that matters. And how are you doing?"- _Shiori's question threw Solaris for a serious loop. She hadn't expected the human woman, one she hardly knew, to be concerned.

"Me? A little stressed I guess, but Foxglove has the attention span of a hyperactive gnat, and that'll do it." Solaris explained. _–Actually it's all the shit I've been through lately, but I'm sure Kurama's Okassan doesn't really want to hear that. -_

_-"I see. Well, you should come over for dinner when you get back. Maybe a couple of days after?"-_ Shiori offered. Solaris was beginning to get dizzy from all of the loops she was being put through.

"Uh, sure, I guess. I kinda want a couple of days to get back on my feet. Strange beds don't do anything for me."

_-"All right. Well, get some rest…Oh! You're driving, I'll bet."-_

"Yeah, but not for long. Foxglove is in for a rude awakening." Solaris laughed.

_-"Okay, you get some rest, and have a safe trip. Ja Ne!"- _Shiori laughed.

"Sure thing, Minamino-San. Ja!" Solaris blinked, and ended the call. Ningen were so confusing… (A/N: Cultural side note here. Japan doesn't add an 's' to make things plural. Cat is Neko. Cats is Neko. Just so you don't get confused.)

--

Shiori hung up the phone, then sat down to massage her forehead. A talk with Moon-San was a little unnerving. The way she spoke was so odd, like she hadn't lived her whole life in Japan! But Shuiichi had said Moon-San had lived in Japan all her life, hadn't he? She'd lived somewhere she hadn't recognized… well, no use puzzling over it tonight. They'd be home soon enough, and she could ask then. If she remembered…

--

"So, Tokyo is only a day away? Finally! Outta this looney bin tomorrow!" Kara yelled, the happiest anyone had seen her… ever!

"Yeah." Foxglove nodded. _–Back to Tokyo and my pursuit of Hiei's heart! -_

"Solaris? Solaris? Guys, I think she's ill." Day said softly. Kurama walked over and pulled an earphone from the foxgirl's ear.

"Not ill. Zoned out. Green Day from the sound of it." Kurama sighed. Suddenly the girl jumped up, reclaimed the ear bud, and pulled Foxglove over.

"Foxglove, take a listen to this!" she laughed and handed the headphone to her muse. Foxglove listened doubtfully for a moment. Half a minute later she and her pseudo-twin were leaning on each other laughing.

"Have you two finally lost it?" Ami asked.

"_I'm the patron saint of the denial_

_With an angel face and a taste for suicidal!" _the foxgirls sang out.

"Oh my lord…" Melody sighed as Solaris started head-banging and playing air guitar.

"Give her a few minutes. She'll be over it. And for the record, I'm not really related to her." Foxglove said, hiding behind Hiei and ignoring his angered glares and scowls. Rooney took a listen and smiled.

"St. Jimmy!" she yelled. That snapped the fox girl out of it.

"Yeah. Thanks! I do that occasionally. I'm more likely to when I've been cooped up for a while." Solaris grinned.

"I see… hey! You _do _know that it'll be Umi no Hi (Ocean Day) when we get into Tokyo, right?" Day asked.

"No…Oh man! I knew I forgot something!" Kurama said (uncharacteristically loud), as if it were something serious. Which, when he told them what, it turned out to be. "I missed Obon! I can't believe it! Kassan is going to be so mad!" (A/N: Okay, another culture note here. Obon is the three-day period in which dead relatives are honored. Sorta like Dia De Los Muertos, for the people who study Spanish. And it's held on July 13-July 16.)

"Kurama, she called me last night, and she sounded just fine. Besides, don't you celebrate it on the lunar calendar? You have a month, Kura-Kun." Solaris said gently. (A/N: Okay, I'll try to keep this the last one. Obon can also be celebrated on August 13-August 16. Which is when I'll be celebrating it, by the way.)

"Yeah, she's right." Rooney nodded. "It doesn't matter about the July ceremony. August is the way to go. Aren't the cemeteries in Tokyo crowded on July 16?" Solaris shrugged as Rooney asked.

"Beats me. I've only been there since the middle of May, and I don't have relatives buried there. My family, sans Foxglove, is in the Makai. My surrogate family, however…"

"Surrogate? Elaborate, please." Kurama said, calming down.

"Uh… Well, the Tantei and company are like family to me." Solaris blushed. "Stupid, yes, I know. But true."

"Y'know what? We need to stop. Take some time. Eat lunch outside for a change. Oh, Hiei, we'll still be in Tokyo tomorrow." Foxglove smiled.

"Yeah, an hour for the vixen and muse to calm down would be good." Hiei shrugged.

"Call 'em up and tell 'em it's lunchtime!" Day grinned amid cheers and two very disinterested 'Hn'-s from Kara and Hiei.

--

"Solaris hasn't been this bouncy since the time the coach got the trampoline out for gym." Kurama said quietly over lunch.

"She was bouncy? Funny. She seemed gimpy to me. Sore ankle. The muse knows these things." Foxglove laughed. "Of course, I wasn't there, I wouldn't know how hyped she was." Foxglove laughed a little more uneasily as Kurama got to his feet. "Hey, I was only kidding!"

"He knows. Look, he's getting Solaris." Day said softly.

--

Kurama had pulled Solaris out of the tall grass and wild flowers to a more secluded area-a bamboo grove.

"Solaris, none of your family has ever been here for long?" he asked. Solaris thought for a moment.

"Hm… Nope. Mom came to Tokyo once when she was younger, then when I got my car." Solaris said, then adopted a scowl. "Sin city then, hasn't changed a bit," she said in her mother's tone, and both teens cracked up laughing.

"That's Nohara all right." Kurama nodded.

"If this is about that Obon thing, I am uber-sorry! I don't know all the holidays and festivals, or I didn't when we set out on this trip. I sort of read up on them during our stay at the hotel." Solaris apologized.

"That's not it." Kurama shook his head. "I was going to ask… Are you going back to the Makai for Obon?"

"What days does it fall on?" she asked, then counted them off before Kurama could answer. "Friday through Monday, right? Take three days off of school to hear Nohara bitch and moan? No thanks!" she said, then made a disgusted face. (A/N: Final one, I swear! This is set in 2004, okay? Wish I had finished it last year, but that can't be helped.)

"I'd say the same. So… if you're staying here, do you want to go…" Kurama paused, trying to make sense of it all. Here he was, about to ask a girl he'd known for only two or three months if she wanted to go to the cemetery with him and his family! It made no sense, but then she had an aura of insanity, so perhaps to her… "This is going to sound like Hiei's idea of a date, but do you want to visit the graves with my family and I?"

"Isn't that a family thing though?" she asked.

"You said I was part of your surrogate family, right? So why not?" he shrugged.

"Well… uh… sure, I guess. Why not?" she smiled. "I get to spend my first Ningenkai Obon with… hey, wait. They aren't really your family, so why?" Solaris asked.

"They are. Well, sorta. They're Shuiichi's real family, or mine so to say. Youko, well, I have no clue." Kurama said. Solaris bowed deeply.

"I'm sorry, that was a really impudent question! After all, you never asked me to explain my reasoning, and I should have done the same!" she apologized vehemently.

"It's all right, I wasn't offended. It's a natural question." Kurama smiled. "So we're on for August 16?"

"You bet!" Solaris smiled, and the pair returned to lunch.

--

"You did? Oh…" Kurama said dejectedly that night. He and Solaris were on the night drive shift, and Solaris had lent him her phone again to call Shiori.

"Hm? Nani?" Solaris whispered. Kurama put a hand over the mouth of the phone.

"Everyone else went four days ago, the day we left Kyoto." He whispered back, then spoke into the phone. "I know. The days just slip by. Wha- Yes, I invited Solaris, but now… Yeah, I guess I'll go alone in August. Well, not really alone, she said yes. Of course she knows what to do, she's Japanese. Right, Kassan. See you tomorrow. Oyasumi Nasai."

"Wow, I figured your mom had her doubts about me, but to think I'm a gaijin… I feel loved." Solaris's ears were flat on her head in embarrassment.

"You're as Japanese as I am, Kassan's just… unnerved by how you talk."

"How so?"

"You talk to her like you would another teen, only more respectfully. It's unusual to her."

"Well, what can you expect of a girl who lives with her twin sister?" Solaris laughed.

"Not much better," Kurama agreed, laughing.

"So it's just us for the 16th?"

"Yeah." Kurama nodded. They drove a little further before either spoke again.

"I'll be glad to see home again." Solaris remarked quietly.

"Yes, I agree. Hate to admit it, but I missed everyone." Kurama nodded. "Except the RFMSA."

"Nani?" Solaris asked.

"Rabid Fan girls of Minamino Shuiichi Association. They've named themselves now." Kurama sighed.

"What's in a name? That which they call an army is still pounded by a few demons. Or Godzilla." Solaris shrugged. Kurama laughed, if a little uneasily; was she talking ningen or Reikai Defenses? And was she serious? When she giggled, he decided she wasn't.

--

"And I believe that's a flush," Foxglove smiled as she put down her cards. Rooney looked, then slapped down four aces and a King.

"And I think I win." Rooney smiled.

"You have the devil's luck…" Ami sighed.

"Maybe not the devil's. Maybe something else entirely." Rooney interjected.

"_Some_ kind of crazy luck, that's for sure." Ami sighed.

"Guys, you've been playing poker for the last hour. Can't you call it quits and eat dinner?" Day asked uneasily.

"Nah, not yet. My luck has to turn around soon." Foxglove protested. Hiei put a stop to the game by going to the table, setting his dinner down on a small pile of cards, and eating.

"Aren't you three tired of this? I'd like dinner _this_ century!" Kara protested. She'd been keeping Melody, Raccoon, and Jenks quiet for the past hour by practicing her shape shifting.

"One more, please?" Melody asked. Kara sighed and Raccoon turned to Jenks.

"Last one, buddy, make it good." Raccoon said.

"Hm… Can ye turn into a bunny plushy?" Jenks asked. Kara groaned, but did.

"Cyuuute!" Foxglove cried. Kara turned back to normal.

"Okay, dinner!" Kara cheered and ran for it.

"We have got to get those two in here to eat." Day sighed.

"Oh no, not Solaris. Ever seen Fushigi Yuugi? Seen how Miaka eats, or at least the quantity? Solaris would be more than a match for Miaka." Foxglove said.

"The muse has a point." Hiei nodded. "She eats all the time at home. When she isn't in that studio, the basement, or elsewhere." Suddenly the trailer came to a stop. 'What the hell?' was a mass cry.

"Guys, on behalf of all we know here, I'd like to welcome you to Tokyo!" Solaris smiled as she entered. They all looked outside. It was about ten o'clock and in a rather quiet part of the city, but if Solaris had seen fit to turn human for it, it was definitely Tokyo. Kara pulled off one last shape-shift, making her look human, and hopped out. Foxglove tied a shawl around her waist to hide her tail and slipped a headband on, pushing her ears down. No one else really bothered to do anything short of get out of the trailer.

"Took less time than I thought." Ami nodded.

"Doesn't hurt that I drove like a bat out of hell to get here. Shaved a while off our time. And I sorta hit a freeway for a while." Solaris admitted.

"Whatever. Got enough room in your house for us?" Kara asked.

"Hell yeah. Six guest rooms for eight people, someone will just have to take the living room or the sun porch." Solaris nodded.

"Sheesh… big house." Jenks quipped sleepily.

"Of course, I could always share a room with Foxglove and someone could use my room." Solaris offered.

"You know I only bought a full-sized bed. Try elsewhere." Foxglove said.

"You bought a _full-size_ bed for that huge room?" Hiei asked in disbelief.

"Well, the desk was huge, and I wanted room to do stuff." Foxglove lied.

"That desk is no bigger than mine or Solaris's, and you're always outside, in the basement playing video games, or doing something hyperactive and annoying. Besides, you…" Hiei began.

"Solaris has never slept in my room. And that nightmare she had back before school ended, I slept in her bed. So, ha, Mister I'm-Always-Right, stick that in your pipe and smoke it!" Foxglove crowed.

"I'm right most of the time, but even geniuses like Kurama have their off days!" Hiei yelled, infuriated.

"You two calm down. Solaris can stay with me. Or more accurately in my room. I'm going home." Kurama said. It seemed to calm everyone. "See? Now everyone has a room."

"Yeah," Solaris grinned, though inside she was confused. Why wouldn't Kurama stay? It was no trouble. Hell, _she'd _sleep on the couch if necessary! But if Solaris was stubborn, Kurama was ten times more so when he put his mind to it.

--

The car stopped in front of Sanctuary, and Solaris trusted Hiei and Foxglove to get everyone settled in. "I'm taking the trailer back and dropping Kurama off at his home. See ya in about 45." Solaris grinned. They had returned the trailer by 11, and by 11:23, Kurama was in front of his home.

"Hey, Solaris, why don't you come on in for a few minutes?" he invited, then opened Solaris's door as soon as she had gotten the seatbelt off. "Mom probably wouldn't mind seeing you. Hey… you look more tan."

"I guess, I spent a lot more time out, and I tan easy." Solaris shrugged.

"It's a good look." Kurama smiled as he opened the door. "Kassan?" he called quietly.

"Hm? Shuiichi? Home already?" his mom asked from the living room, then came into the hall smiling. "Welcome home, was it a nice trip?" Shiori noticed a familiar scent, and laughed. "Moon-San, I'm not angry. Just surprised you're home so early." Solaris moved out from behind Kurama's back.

"It was an interesting trip to say the least." Kurama laughed; no matter how often they could talk, Solaris was still shy around his mother in person!

"And you, Moon-San? Daijobu desu ka?" Shiori asked.

"Well as can be expected. Gomen nasai for dragging your son off for two weeks!"

"Oh, don't be. It's always good to get some variety. And if it was an interesting trip, all the better." Shiori laughed.

"Well, I'd best head home. Oyasumi nasai, and arigatou for coming with us, Shuiichi-Kun." Solaris smiled and turned to leave.

"Shuiichi, if you want to go to Sanctuary, then go. One more night is just fine." Shiori smiled. Kurama quickly hugged his ningen mother and ran off, shouting 'domo, Kassan!'.

"Shiori, who was that?" Kurama's stepfather called from the living room. Shiori rejoined him.

"Shuiichi. He and his friends are back from their road trip." She smiled.

"So where is he? Asleep?"

"No, he decided to go back to Solaris-San's house." Shiori laughed; she understood why he had done that, even if her son didn't fully get it.

--

"What changed your mind?" Solaris asked as Kurama drove toward Sanctuary. Her face was turned toward the window. "Not that I'm complaining."

"According to you, you never complain. I'll take your word for it though." Kurama laughed. "I decided… well, you sounded disappointed. Besides, I wouldn't leave you alone with those psychos."

"How do you know I'm not psycho?" Solaris laughed.

"You passed psycho long before I met you." Kurama smiled. "You're just you." They got to Sanctuary and entered to find a flurry of people.

"It's a mad house! All five bathrooms are taken!" Foxglove gasped.

"Hey, who likes to feel like pond scum?" Day asked. "Thought not." Foxglove hadn't heard; she had run off to claim the bathroom down the hall. It was about midnight before everyone was ready to sleep. Solaris grabbed her pillow, a blanket, put the plushies on a shelf, and turned to Melody.

"Here you go. See ya in the morning." Solaris smiled. She was well on her way to the stairs when Kurama passed her.

"Hey, where are you going?" he asked.

"Sun porch! Melody's in my room." Solaris explained. Kurama caught her wrist.

"Didn't I say you could sleep in my room?"

"Well, you're here and I don't think…"

"Solaris, you steal my shirts, you took that blue one for a week, remember? If that's appropriate, I'll eat that beret of yours." Kurama sighed.

"No you won't. And that's not as inappropriate as…"

"Solaris, no one really cares. Your mom's in the Makai, your dad is God-knows-where, my parents are at home, and no one cares." Somewhere along the line, he had decided that it was too late to mess with letting her sleep on ground level, with the doors open, even when she knew there could be murderous ningen and youkai after her hide. Getting out of bed to make sure she was alive and safe didn't sound fun _or _restful.

"I kick in my sleep." Solaris lied. It was late, and even the world's most gullible person could have seen through that.

"You do not. Don't worry about it. "

"Okay, I think Youko took over somewhere during this." Solaris tried to grin.

"No, but he's just as frustrated. And muttering something about a pencil." Kurama scowled. Solaris hadn't ever seen him glare at her like that.

"Fine then." She capitulated and walked silently behind him. "I'm sure this is wrong!" she protested one last time as the final door on the second floor closed.

"No one cares. In fact, Foxglove took it for granted. Made some _really_ wrong joke. Hiei popped her over the head, I think; I was leaving the room." Kurama sighed.

"Foxglove thinks every girl should be as batty over guys as she is." Solaris rolled her eyes as she sat down on the edge of the bed. Kurama laid down, back to her. When she made no move after a few minutes, he sighed again.

"Whenever you decide to go to sleep, just turn the light off." He quipped.

"Well, it's just unnerving to me!" Solaris said in a huff.

_-That's amusing. She can baby sit a wolf cub for a week, kick butt on her old boss and secretly save several people, but it's unnerving to sleep in the same bed as a guy. That's funny.- _he thought. "I'm sensing issues here."

"The Shonen Jump has nothing on me! If you had a boss who tried to seduce you at every turn, and you kept a frying pan under your pillow to fight him off with, you'd have issues too!" she cried.

"I'm not Joshi. So just go to sleep. It's funny how you can fight anything except spiders and snakes, you keep Hiei from killing Foxglove, and eight unexpected guests don't worry you, but sleeping by someone who won't try anything is scary." Kurama smiled, turning to face her. Solaris huffed, then laid down, her back to him and her tail in her arms.

"That's really juvenile." Solaris said angrily.

"It worked. Good night." He smiled and reached over her to turn out the light. She suddenly grabbed his arm, snarling, then snapped out of it.

"Sorry, conditioned reflex."

"Good night, Solaris." He sighed as he laid back down.

--

Hiei breathed a sigh of relief. Finally those two shut up. He turned over to try and get some sleep, but someone was in his doorway.

"Uh, Hiei? I wanted to say arigatou for saving Jenks and making sure I was all right on the trip, and not getting angry when I kissed you that time. Oh, and for letting me cry." Raccoon whispered.

_-You walked all the way upstairs for that!- _Hiei thought. "You're welcome, I was doing my job, and I didn't get angry because you were drunk." Hiei sighed. "Now good night, Raccoon." The girl didn't leave, though.

"So, who cooks around here?" she asked.

"Solaris. Foxglove can't cook worth a damn, and the fox isn't here in the mornings usually." Hiei sighed. "Now can I please go to sleep?"

"Sorry, am I keeping you awake?"

"YES!"

"Oh. Night then. Or is it morning? It's after midnight…"

"Contemplate that on your way downstairs." Hiei growled and closed his eyes.

--

"One more game…" Foxglove asked, no, pleaded with Rooney.

"I've beat you twenty times already. Call it quits." Rooney sighed as she shuffled the deck and put the cards away.

"Are you a thief or a card shark?" Foxglove asked.

"Mostly a thief, sometimes a card shark, both if needs be." Rooney smiled tiredly. "I'm also pretty damn good at Odds and Evens too. Now go on and go to sleep."

"Fine. Night." Foxglove sighed and left for her room next door.

--

The next day, the eight guests set out for parts unknown.

"Well, I gotta jam. My heart's telling me to head out. That and I got a gig at a café tonight." Melody laughed, tapping her guitar case with one finger.

"Well, I'm looking for a shop. Alchemy's my trade, I ought to at least make a few yen off of it." Azurite smiled.

"Wait up! I can cast spells and charms and things. We should go into business together." Ami said. They left, discussing names for the business as they went.

"Cyrus is probably wondering where I am. I'll see you. If she doesn't kill me." Day smiled as she set out for her friend's house.

"I just want to get out of this looney bin. Thanks for the ride." Kara said, a little more easily than she would have the previous week.

"Places to go, pockets to pick. Cool knowing ya!" Rooney laughed as she waved.

"Nice ta meet ya!" Jenks smiled, sitting on Solaris's shoulder.

"We have to get back together soon. Dinner in a week sound good?" Solaris asked. There were cheers and nods.

"Okay then, you know how to find us!" Foxglove laughed.

"It was nice travelling with you. Interesting, at the very least." Kurama smiled.

"Whatever." Hiei rolled his eyes. Suddenly, Raccoon walked up to him and kissed him full on the mouth, for the second time the whole trip.

"Thanks." She murmured. "Come on, Jenks, time to go!"

"Aye, lass. Ye take care o' yerselves. And Solaris? Dun worry too much, he feels the same way." Jenks smiled and flew off to join Raccoon. Everyone but Kurama, Solaris, Foxglove and Hiei had left by now.

"What was he talking about, Solaris?" Kurama asked. The girl turned as red as her muse's hair. Which, by the way, is really red.

"Nothing of importance." Solaris said as she retreated to the house.

"Tell me!" Foxglove pleaded.

"You blabbermouth! No way!"

"Let her keep it a secret, no skin off my nose." Hiei shrugged. He wasn't too curious; he could always figure it out when he felt like it. Or when it was a slow day for torturing the muse.

"It is mine. What was it?" Foxglove begged.

"Sheesh! A guy I have a crush on! Jenks has powers! Figure it out yourself!" Solaris blushed deeper, if possible, and left for the backyard.

"Love spell?"

"No, divining feelings. Maybe you should have asked about Hiei." Kurama remarked.

"He'd just tell her that I hate her, she already knows that!" Hiei quipped. And so normalcy was restored.

**OWARI  
**

* * *

Solaris: That ends that. My next fic is called "Return of Rose". Pretty obvious what it's about, but here's a teaser: 

_One dark stormy night, a girl from Kurama's past returns. Has Solaris met her match? Or has her newest rival bitten off a bit more than she can chew?_


End file.
